A Scuba Finale

Our last few days and the resulting last blog, oh how far we have come...
On the heels of Meghan's last post, we had just finished the scuba classes and tests in Cairns, and our next (and ultimate) adventure was on a "liveaboard" boat, scouring the depths of the Great Barrier Reef! Following a two hour shuttle boat ride out to the liveaboard, we got settled into our rooms, had a quick lunch, and were straight into our scuba gear for our first afternoon dive. Conditions were sunny, the water was relatively calm, and we were positioned over one of the best dive spots on the GBR, and surely in the world, Milln Reef. Split into two groups of six, and of course buddied up, we had a quick snorkel around the side of the boat to an anchored rope at the front to guide us to the ocean floor during our first descent. On the surface of the water, our senses were flooded with the hum of the boat, the ever-present lap of waves, and constant bobbing in the currents. However, once underneath the chaotic exterior, we were enveloped by a blue serenity. I was personally nervous about being out in open water, yet my mind was changed completely once floating peacefully, weightless through a calmer world. This was different from the snorkeling-like nightmare I had predicted. In fact, within seconds of submerging, we spotted a white tip reef shark just 10 meters in the distance. Somewhat like a fox encountered in his own forest habitat, the shark gliding coolly away. Conquer shark phobia, Check! From then on we went through our routine test of removing and collecting our regulators (mouthpieces), filling up and clearing our masks, and trying to calm ourselves in order to steady our breathing. Upon returning to the surface, we all agreed the dive was a resounding success.
A couple hours later we embarked on our second dive, which consisted of descending free of a guide rope, running through more tests like shared breathing, and gear removal. We also made more wildlife spots like a giant clam, Titan Trigger fish, and Sea Cucumber.
Exhausted, and full from a good dinner, many of us called it a night and relaxed up on the sundeck, while a brave few (James, Katie V, Connor, Joseph, Adam, and Heather) chose to go out on a night dive. Along with miles of courage they brought underwater flashlights with them to not only guide their way but to also direct a gang of red bass to their evening meal (illuminated smaller fish).
Waking early the next morning (5:30!), we all engaged in dives at six in the morning and again at eight. On these we explored the reef further and observed some more awesome marine animals like sea turtles and a moray eel! Additionally, on the latter of these dives we had a camera man come along to film us perform underwater stunts and show messages we had written beforehand to our families. Later in the day we all got to watch it a have a good laugh.
We were finally awarded our certified Open Water Diver cards by our Instructor, Ethan, and some chose to do a final, unsupervised, dive in a new spot. Bravo! Ready for dry land, we boarded the shuttle boat back to Cairns certified diving Extraordinaires. Getting back to the city in the early evening, we got our own dinners and ended the day with one of our final group meetings back at the Caravella hostel. Sad!
Our last day as a group we spent lounging on a nearby beach and tying up loose ends around Cairns, culminating with a group dinner out. Those of us flying back to the States will make for the airport at 2 am tonight, eager to reunite with our loved ones.

Fanzcarpediem, we have loved ye
As for everyone in this wonderful group, its a definite "see you later"

-Gordie

Cairns!

BULA(bringing that one back)family and friends!

Since our last post,we have finished up a relaxing week at the Chenrezig Buddhist Retreat Center, where we learned about the various teachings and traditions of the Buddhist religion. Once we ascended "the hill", a(very steep)hill which set the boundaries of the center, we were asked to adhere to a set of Buddhist guidelines:
1. Avoid killing (all creatures - including ants)
2. Avoid stealing (that which was not specifically given to you)
3. Avoid lying
4. No sexual contact(including hugs)
5. No intoxicants
Though seemingly obvious social guidelines, the rules were surprisingly hard to follow - the mosquitos taunted us as if they knew they would not be swatted.

Daily activites at the center included gardening, maufacturing miniature "stupas"(holy artifacts meant to be a physical manisfestation of Buddha's mind), and yoga with our incredibly serene and patient hungarian teacher Tiag. Our vegetarian (eek!) meals at Chenrezig consisted of a light breakfast and dinner, with a filling and delicious lunch. At night we laid relatively low, watching Buddhist themed films, reading, and once attempting to follow an advanced lesson in Buddhist theory,taught by the centers "geshe", an enlightened Tibetan monk. We also partook in a two day seminar focused on creating better relationships, inspired by and following Buddhist teachings. Through meditations and examples from her own life, our teacher Alyse showed to us how to eliminate anger and destructive feelings from our lives, asking us to take and value people for who they are, rather than who we expect them to be.

After our relaxing stay at Chenrezig, wedeparted for Cairns on our 30 hour (yes, you read correctly) train ride. Staying on an overnight train has been a dream of mine, ever since I saw "Some like it Hot". I was pumped, and the ride did not dissapoint. Though mildly claustrophobic at first, our triple-sleeper train compartments proved cozy habitats, accomodated with a bench that folded into three bunk beds, a sink, and a trash can. Train activities included reading, card games, college essay writing, and filling the tiny rooms way past their capacity for rediculous hangout sessions. The rare half hour stops were almost comical, our group bursting out of the train doors, spilling out onto the train platform to stretch, walk, do pushups, and dance to Michael Jackson tunes. We made it though our cabin fever however, to arrive safe and sound in Cairns, our final destination of the trip.

Our first day in Cairns was spent milling around the boardwalks of this seaside city, peering into the various shops and restaurants. The following two days were spent in "scuba school", where, you will be happy to learn, we all passed our written and underwater tests. Tomorrow we ship off on a scuba overnight aboard the Cairns Diving Center's dive ship, to explore the Great Barrier Reef, and earn our "open water dive" certifications.

Looking forward to a great last week, but also to seeing our families once again!
Cheers to the last leg of our incredible trip!
-Meghan

Beach time at Noosa

Hey everyone!
We arrived in Noosa four days ago. The first day we were all just getting settled in from a long week at groovy grape. Once we got to the beach we were all just relieved to have some down time to relax from two long weeks of waking up early. The second day we got a chance to sleep in, but most of us woke up around 8 because everyone was so excited to go check out the beach and swim in the amazingly warm ocean water. We spent most of the day laying on the beach sun tanning and walking around the little town. The weather was perfect for swimming in the ocean, it was a awesome way to cool down from the hot weather. Some of us got a little sunburned but not too bad. That night we had pizza for dinner, which was amazing and by the end of the day everyone was starving. The hostil we are staying at is the YHA and its around a 3 minute walk to the beach. The hostil looks like a little beach house. Its blue and kind of old fashioned. At night they light the Tiki torches and they have colored Christmas lights around the hostil. The third day a bunch of us took surfing lessons and had an amazing time. Those that did it said the instructor was great and was willing to take them out later in the day for a second time for free! Lets just say they jumped at that opprotunity. After spending some more time at the beach some of us went into town to the internet cafe to upload pictures onto facebook and we all ended up around the computer laughing at all the pictures we have taken over the course of the trip. Today we are heading to Chen Rezig, the Buddhist monastery, for a week of yoga, meditation, and Steve Irwin's zoo!

Some information we learned about Chenrezig was that the land was first purchased in the 70's as an overgrazed pasture and was completely barren. Today, thanks to the many monks that live there, it is a lush rainforest, covered in trees and exotic plants. (Thanks Brandon, our trivia master).

Cheers,
Katie B.

P.S.
We will upload photos in a week, sorry for the delay!

Our Groovy/ Grapey Adventure

Hey FANZ families, and fans, this is Connor trying to update you on our groovy recent trip happenings. So our first day of the Groovy Grape, we woke up early, and met our wacky driver Robert, a purple haired Jack Sparrow look alike. We also met 3 Germans, Hanz, Franz, and Ahnold, just kidding, Henrick, Sabina & Yens, 2 Swedish girls, Jo and Jenny, and 2 Scottish girls, Hannah and Vikki. Each group was a team, we, of course, TEAM America, Team Germany, etc. And then we were off. The first day we stopped at a WWII memorial for lunch, and then took a short hike to look at some Aboriginal cave art. After that we headed to our lodging for the night, a refurbished infirmary that was originally used for tuberculosis. We had an amazing barbecue; kangaroo, beef, sausages, salads, and the veggie kebabs for Heather.
Next day, we woke up somewhat early, and took a hike on the main road, while some road bikes. Robert picked us up afterwards, and we stopped at a hostel that had a shady pool and we made our lunch for the day. We drove some more into the wild wild Outback and we arrived at our oasis in the desert, a famous bar with many driver's licenses, business cards, assorted women's underwears, that were along the walls. There was even a business card from someone at Fordham University in NYC! That night we made a huge bonfire out of old railroad ties, and slept under the stars in comfortable swags, I'll explain those later.

We woke up to the sun rising and flies on our faces, what a nice wake up. We then headed off to Cooper Pedy, a mining town that was widely known for it's opal mines. We went to the mining mueseum and saw the thrilling movie The Story of Opal, award winning to say the least. We toured through the mines, and then went to a kangaroo rescue, where we got to feed older kangaroos, and hold younger ones. That night we went to the famous pizza place, John's Pizza, where we were greeted with a barrage of pizza pies that filled the whole group up. Some headed off to the underground hotel and some went to our underground hostel built into the side of a mountain.

We woke up early the next day, 4:30 to be exact, ouch, and went up to a lookout point that Rob knew about to see the sunrise. We were in for a long drive, since we were headed to Uluru, formerly Ayer's Rock. We arrived in the afternoon after lunch on the road, and we quickly unpacked and hopped into the pool. That night we watched the sunset on Uluru, with cheese, crackers, carrots, and hummus. We slept another night under the stars.

Next morning was another early one, 4:45, to see the sunrise on one of the adjacent large pebbles. We hauled up coolers, and had pancakes, cereal, and coffee as the sun rose. After that we headed to our hike of the day, which was a 6k walk around the base of Uluru. We got up close and more personal with the rock later when Robert took us to some of the notable Aboriginal ceremonial spots. After the hike, we went back to the site, to prep it for the other Groovy Grape driver's birthday, who would be staying there that night as well. Then we went on a secret mission, to sneak into the local resort's pool. To say the least, no one was wounded in action and the mission was a great success, very NICE. That night, we had another huge barbecue, sung happy birthday to J.P., the other driver, and had a great time with our fellow Grapers. Before we fell asleep though, we hauled our sleeping gear, swags and sleeping bags, up to another lookout point to see the sunrise on Uluru.

The sun rose really early, some of us might not exactly remember, but it was a beautiful sight. We came back, ate breakfast, and set out for an 8k hike through a series of large rock formations, the most famous of which is Kata Tjuta. Robert informed us of how they formed, and the legends that were behind various areas of it. He also told us about the local plant and animal life that lived around our hiking trail.

We had an uneventful evening in Alice Springs last night. We rested up, got most of the dirt from the outback off our bods, and had a last group meal. Some of the group went out to a bar, Bojangles (to have gingerbeers of course) and some headed back to the hostel for an early night.

Tomorrow we head for the beach at Noosa!

A Group Divided

Hello fellow FANZ followers. Here to report another exciting week is Blogman Brandon, giving you the latest updates on our recent happenings.

Halloween night proved to be an interesting one at that, where our female group members dressed up in whatever exuberant articles of clothing they had while the males choose more simple costumes like cop, cowboy, detective and a duplicate Nick. Sydney was hopping with characters to say the least and it was just as exciting as watching all the city-goers as it was to get dressed up ourselves.

The next morning we woke up early to board our flight to Adelaide where we met our representitive from CVA (Conservation Volunteers of Australia). After a brief safety and information meeting at the CVA office, the moment we had been dreading arrived. For the first time during our trip, the group would be split in half to persue two different projects and not see each other for the rest of the week. We said our goodbyes and parted ways.

My group consisted of Myself, Meghan, James, Katie V, Joseph, Mike, Nick, and Heather. We had a 3 hour car ride to Mt. Remarkable camp site where we would be camping for the week. During this time our campsite was visited by 2 emus, nicknames Tony and Bernice, a family of kangaroo, Cookaburrows, and a giant lizard. During the days we would work in fields getting rid of predominetly 2 invasive species, The Boxthorn and the Iceplant. Both from South Africa, these species of pants are competing with native plants and are causing much harm. We all adorned flynets and giant hats to shield us from the bugs and sun. We were a sight for sore eyes.

The other group (aka Team Hard Core), consisting of Gordie, Wyatt, Conor, Kathleen, Katie B, and Adam had a 7 hour drive to their homestay. There, their project was to survey the number of plants in a given area. This consisted of walking up steep hills and slippery slopes to get the job done. This groups accomodation was much different then the campsite and needless to say we had two different experiences.

We are reuinited and back in Adelaide safe and sound! Now onto the Groovy Grape and our tour through the Outback!

Trivia from the week:
-Flinder's Ranges (mountains in South Australia) have "heaps" of fossils (called ediacaran for those intrigued) from over 550 million years ago. They are the first forms of multi cellular life. Very few other places around the world have these.
-In South Australia, most of the rivers run inland. Therefore, due to the buildup of salt (and iron) on the land, there's a red coloring--picturesque!
-Australia is one of the oldest continents
-South Australia is the driest state in the driest continent in the world.
-And, believe it or not, Australia is the same size as North America
-"Kathleen" is a Greek name, meaning pure, and is also the name of the best trivia master EVER.

Hollaaaaaa!

This is Blogman Brandon signing off, untill next weeks addition of FANZ Carpe Diem.

Allo from Sunny Sydney!

So sorry about the delay everyone on the blog, we have been "in transit" for a little longer than I expected. This is Mike Dour, and I will be your Bilbo Bloggins on this post, leading you on a journey with my words...right.

SO, we pick up with our Friday journey to Christchurch. We arrived and assembled in the town square, I guess you would call it, and saw the many vendors, street performers, as well as the beautiful church that was the "centerpiece". After a few hours of people running off and grabbing lunches, souvenirs, we finally got our gear. We shopped for our food supplies for the trek we were about to embark on, as well as got many thermals, and assorted rain gear. All came in handy in the coming days. Friday night, we had a bountiful feast at one of the homestays for our last night party.

Saturday morning was full of goodbyes, and presents from the homestay hosts. We departed and headed off to Queenstown. Now Queenstown, I would compare to Aspen really, a "ski town", tons of outlet stores, fancy restaurants, and an amazing view of the surrounding mountains. Many of the group enjoyed amazing hamburgers at Fergburger, one of the above mentioned restaurants. Now I might have to go into more detail about these hamburgers, but I'll save that for a little later. We unpacked all unnecessary items from our bags that night and loaded up the gear and food. The divide among the food did take some figuring out, but we eventually accomplished this. We stayed at the Black Sheep hostel, which had a hot tub! YAY!, which was inviting, and seemed somewhat..well we decided no on that. Sleep time, we depart tomorrow for the trek!

Sunday morning was an early wakeup, getting all the clothes and assorted items into the storage at the hostel we would be visiting again after our trek. We then headed into town to grab breakfast and afterwards headed to our pickup site. After a short busride with a stop to grab a couple nice camera snaps, we were at the trail.With some nice weather and no rain in sight, we were off. (Start of Trek, Day 1)We started off at a nice pace, and our hike took us through the valley and slightly on the side of the mountains. I'm not talking hiking up huge mountains here, not the Himalayas, the inclines were just enough though to tire the group out. After a couple hours of hiking we arrived at our first cabin, which already had a number of occupants, 8 to be exact. And we were 14..the cabin was not prepared for the amount of people about to be in it. The first night had people sleeping side by side in some larger beds, but not large enough. And that was the first day on the Greenstone trail!

Monday(Trek Day 2) Now this was our longest hiking day here. The time proposed by the trail signs said a hike of 4 & 1/2 to 6 & 1/2 hours...wow. This day will live in infamy...just kidding. Ask around and maybe some will say it will. Despite the rain, which was just a drizzle really, almost everyone had an amazing time that day. We were all geared up in our rain gear and we conquered that path, hiking over metal suspension bridges, through huge expanses of fields, as well as some very very rocky parts. I'm not talking about stepping over rocks, we were on rocks, just rocks. It must have been caused from avalanches from long ago in the area, but it was huge areas of rocks, no ground below your feet for a long ways. Oh, I knew I forgot something, for everyone now worrying about me mentioning avalanches, we did not have any run ins with them, though I've heard they can be a hassle at times. After our long hike, we arrived at our cabin, and relaxed like we've never relaxed before. Hot drinks, a hot fire, we were feeling good after a short time. The couple that rode on the bus to the trail shared the cabin with us that night, and we had some very good conversations with them. The sleeping situation was alot nicer but one last cabin was in our future...

Tuesday(Trek Day 3) So we left this cabin relatively later because this day was one of our shortest days of hiking, headed to the nicest cabin we'd stayed at the whole trek, flush toilets, supplied gas and even lights! *GASP*! This walk was nice, a sunny day after our cloudy and wet day, and we took many a photo at many spots. This day was the first day I also played our newest game introduced to the group, Contact. Basically a hiking game which is a word guessing game. I would go into more details but for the sake of people's reading and me not wanting to cause mass confusion I won't, put it on the list of things to ask about when we all get back. After our short hike and everyone being in good spirits, we arrived at our last hut. Large and with many beds, the above mentioned commodities, we settled in and decided what to do with the rest of our day. Some went on a summit hike, which I was told was breathtaking, a view that you only can see on postcards, few postcards. The warden that was residing at the hut was a friendly man, who had visited the States when he was younger and we exchanged various stories with him. Early sleep in everyone's own bunk (WOW!) that night because of what was to come the next day, an early morning and a kayaking romp on the glorious Milford Sound.

Wednesday(Last & 4th Trek Day) We woke up, well me and the "El Capitan" of the week, Connor, woke up at 5:10 to prepare breakfast. No sun up yet..very early. We left this cabin at around 6:30 to make our pickup time of 8 at the end of the trail. Another short hike, with an early morning view of the surrounding area, which was very...well foggy. Another cloudy day sad to say. We annihilated that trail that morning, we arrived early at the pickup, to say...we trail blazed. We met our driver Rosco, of Rosco's Milford Sound Kayaking. Wow! The namesake of the company has picked us up, I felt somewhat like a VIP! On our drive to the sound, he pointed out many things, mainly avalanche sites, where the "wind blast", the gust of wind that an avalanche generates from coming down, had snapped the trees caught in it like "toothpicks" as he put it. We made one stop to see an amazing rock formation that had been formed by the river running through it and kept on driving. We drove through an avalanche..not that it came down on us, but the road was cleared where it had been. An icy corridor, ice, snow, dirt, rocks, surrounded us on both sides, it was intimidating. A little time passed, and we arrived at the Sound. Now, sadly whilst on the Sound, the rain that was scheduled for that day...started. It still didn't ruin the kayaking. It was breathtaking, surrounded by huge cliffs, waterfalls from the runoff in many places, and we saw penguins! WOO! Everyone loves penguins..or maybe just myself, anyways, so after paddling around in our double kayaks for around 3 hours in the Sound, we headed in to dry off our soaked bottoms, tops, sides, feets...you get the idea. After a thorough drying we were off to Teanu( need some spelling checked on that), a small town that we ran around in while waiting for our bus back to Queenstown. The bus ride, back to Queenstown took us past many nice sights, and finally after 6 hours..or so, we arrived back at the Black Sheep. I finally had my Fergburger and let me tell you, a glorious symphony of meat, and vegetables greeted me. When I say this was an amazing burger, it's an understatement. I now have made a top 5 burger list which this holds a steady numero 3 on. Time for sleep because tomorrow we depart for Sydney!

Thursday, well an early wakeup to get to the airport to wait for our flight, an hour or so, standard airport practices. We flew out of Queenstown to Auckland for a little bit of a layover, which was followed by our flight to Sydney. Another time zone change greeted us, and after a little bit of a wait for our transport( I think this guy had no legs because he was in the parking lot walking to us for about 20 minutes) we were immersed in Sydney! Now how can I say this, this city is unique. Ferrari, Maserati, Lotus, Lamborghini dealerships on one block, which I drooled at, while a plethora of coffee shops and restaurants on all the others, and the random money exchanges dabbled in there. We arrived at our hostel, the Great Aussie Backpackers Hostel, and settled in.

Friday was a full day. We had our Sydney scavenger hunt, a huge all day walk about ( some Aussie slang there, walk about means a hike..I think, check that later). ANYWAYS, this consisted of the group checking out all the historic sites of Sydney, the Mint, the Opera House, the Botanical Gardens, the Art Museum, among other sites of interest. Now some went with groups, others went by themselves. Myself, went alone. I had a grand time, until me and the Botanical Gardens met up. Now, this place is huge, and I mean HUGE. I wish I could say the size of this place, but it's ginormous. After wandering here for a couple hours, and almost being eaten by some very large plants, I stumbled out and headed back. We concluded our scavenger hunt, awarding prizes and such and had an awesome barbecue supplied by the hostel later that night, kangaroo and beef on the barbie. Kangaroo is interesting, very tough meat, but very much like beef.

And that brings us to today! Saturday, the 31st, Halloween! I'm not sure what is planned for the All Hallow's Eve festivities, or who is dressing up as who, but it is sure to be a fun filled night. Sadly, photos from me cannot be supplied at this time..sorry all, hopefully I can update this later today with them.
And now for some fun facts about the Milford Sound! The rainfall here is 6000 mm, 256 inches, and that is alot, more than any place in New Zealand. This was of course solidified by the rain that pelted us on our kayaking. Well that's it for me, Mike Dour, Bilbo Bloggins, signing off for now! Pictures to come!

Joy from South Island!

Faithful blog followers, rejoice, its time for another. Here's the update from the past week...

We began this Sunday with an early, three hour long ferry ride from Wellington to a little town, I can't quite think of the name though. Though it sounds quaint, the ferry was far from that, it was extremely rocky and shook up a couple uneasy stomachs within the group. A lot of green faces. An interesting experience. Stepping onto solid ground was a lovely relief, to say the least. That was followed by a long bus ride, finally ending our day's travel in Christchurch, where we were warmly greeted by a couple of the homestay-arrangers. Helloooo, South Island!

The group then split up (groups of either 3 or 4) for new homestays in Lyttleton, a town about a half hour drive from Christchurch. That evening was spent getting to know our individual homestay families.

Monday morning the group reunited bright and early to begin the environmental conservation work we'd be doing over the next couple days. This day, we had "clippers" to chop down growing Sycamore trees (an invasive species to New Zealand plants, which are currently being revegetated), "herbiciders" to follow them with blue goo, and others who helped chop down real trees with chainsaws. Intense. It was a cold but productive first day! Again, after work we separated to our homestays to relax for the evening.

Tuesday morning was similar, just some different work (mostly planting native New Zealand baby trees). Another lovely, productive day of volunteering. Afterwards, we split again, many taking advantage of the cute little coffee shops on the main street. Later that night, some of us convened to be total Americans and watch the movie "Baby Mama" (props to Katie B for providing it, as quotes from it have been dropped all trip). So funny.

Wednesday, we finished up the work asked of us by planting the rest of the baby trees (which was a lot!). For the most part, this went smoothly, but with some mishaps, like Meghan (who accidentally sat on/brushed against a dried up thornbush--another invasive species by the way--and as a result had thorns stuck to her basically from the neck down, very pokey... Hahaha... Poor thing. We all had a good laugh). Overall, we're quite proud of the work we've done! :)

Then, Thursday (today) was a nice change of pace. Accompanied by Ivette (hopefully I'm spelling her name correctly, if not, apologies! My other guess would be Yvette), a Maori homestay mother, we hiked up the Bridle Trail (in the old days, settlers traveled up this to get to Christchurch, on the other side of the mountain). We spent the majority of the day hiking, soaking up unforgettable sceneries, and listening to Ivette tell many stories, both Maori tales and about New Zealand history. Following the hike, we went down to the dock and almost all of us (minus two wimps who will go unnamed) jumped into the harbour water, carrying on the precedent set by the previous 6 groups. IT WAS ICE COLD. Luckily, the day ended at Ivette's house, where we cozied up with a great meal.

Tomorrow will be spent in Christchurch, shopping and preparing for our upcoming free travel time! Woo! Then in the evening we'll have a goodbye party, as Saturday morning we'll depart to Queenstown.

Overall, its been another fabulous week. I know some of us started to have some homesick-ness spouts recently, so this fun and comfortable homestay experience definitely came at the perfect time. Sickness cured. Thus far, South Island is a wonderful place! Surprisingly, I was able to figure out picture uploading, so you all can check out some shots from New Zealand below! I'm sure there will be more once other cameras are accesible.

Trivia master (and my roomie for the week) Katie V has provided some New Zealand words that are totally different from our typical vocabulary:
dinner=big, hot meal
but supper=post dinner tea with biscuits (=cookies)
tea=a light dinner
pudding=dessert
(obviously it has been difficult getting our meals straight!)
togs=a bathing suit
bench=countertop
bunfight=a party (a fun one)
pram=baby stroller
barbie=grill (but saying "shrimp on the barbie," so cliché , rookie mistake!)
and I'm sure there's many more...

We'll be checking in again asap after tramping near Queenstown!
Hollaaaaa,
Bilbo Bloggins of the week (aka Kathleen)

PS. Please pardon any grammatical/spelling errors (a vast amount, I'm sure) within this blog. There is no spell check. Its been like 5 months since school, its the first time I've had to write correctly, obviously:)

Cheese!

Picture time! Woo! New Zealand thus far...
(PS. Sorry they're all out of order, I lack computer skills.)

Part of the group eating lunch on top of a mountain! This was during our hike today.

The view from the mountain top...

And the view from our homestay family's porch...




Our first glance of Christchurch! Though someone's head was in the way, oops.

At the Marae we visited with local high school students, trying our best "haka" faces. Key word--trying.

The boys' "haka" faces (they were allowed to stick out their tounges, so not fair)


The girls after kayaking at OPC, we all got to experience amazing and relaxing hot springs (basically pool sized hot tubs, heaven).


In Auckland one night, before going to listen to a local singer perform.



During free time in Auckland, a lovely city.

Some of us at Anne's farm (before going to see the glowworms!)

Post-kayak trip at OPC

Our leader Julian hopped into this one!

Hahaha, Brandon pulled off the wet suit the best, by far. (He'll hate me for posting this. Hehe)

On Sunday we left Anne's farm at 9 in the morning and made our way to Outdoor Pursuit Center, or OPC.(they like acronyms there) It was approximately a 6-7 hour shuttle ride but as we approached our destination three enourmous snow capped mountains loomed in the distance, one of which being the infamous "Mt. Doom" from Lord of the Rings. We were given the corporate accomodations on the OPC grounds which was perfect becuase half of our group came down with a stomach parasite and the plush leather couches and fireplace were perfect for recovery. Our first two days there were basic team building activities, things like trust falls and low ropes courses. On the second day our instructor, Julian Malcolm, showed us how to use maps and compasses and gave us a real location within the area to locate. To get to where we needed to go we had to tramp through the bush, which was very diffacult but the end location was a flyingfox, or zipline, and we had a bit of fun to end the day. The next day, Wednesday, we did a kayak trip through a stream and then into a lake which was surrounded in gorgeous dark green mountains. After our journey we got to relax in a nearby natural springs hot pool, which was the perfect relaxer for a tough kayak session in windy, rainy conditions. Before we left we chopped varios vegetables and took them to a hot spring location nearby where we would leave them in the ground to cook in traditional Maori fashion. We had them with our lunch and they were the perfect side to ham sandwiches. Instead of our nightly presentation Julian showed us the basics to belaying and tying figure-8 knots for rock climbing. Thursday was our last full day and in the morning Julian had us do a one hour orienteering race, where we had to use a map and find locations on the map for points within an hour. It was cold and rainy, but extrememly fun and in the end Gordie a and Meghan came out victorious, with myself and James a close second. In the afternoon we hit the high ropes course, so our belaying had to be on point so no one got hurt. We chose three obstacles on the course, the high up sideways skull monkey climbing wall of death, the monkey tails, and the blindfolded draw bridge. All were challenges, and we were all challenged which was the point and we all had a lot of fun. That night we camped out in tents and the next day we headed south to Marton were we would spend last night and today in a Morae with some locals from the village. Today we even learned the Haka, which is the Maori war dance, we got a video of it and although it is a serious dance, the video is hilarious. I am currently using the internet in our hostel in Wellington and tomorrow we are headed to the south island for our final week or so in New Zealand. Also did you know that OPC had New Zealand's first manmade rock climbing wall, wow, I did not know that thank you James Flood, this weeks trivia master. From all of us on the FANZ trip, this is Wyatt Good signing off, another blog next week.

Greetings from the Farm!

Hey all! Greetings from Warkworth, New Zealand!

First off, we wanted to let everyone know that we haven't had much internet access this past week. Don't worry if you haven't recieved any individual emails in the last few days. If you do need to contact any of the students, feel free to email Fanzcarpediem@yahoo.com. Heather and Adam check this as much as possible and will be able to relay the message. Also, from here, we are heading to OPC and most likely wouln't have much internet for another week. Thanks for understanding!

We are currently working and playing on Anne Verdonk's beautiful Organic Farm. We are on the last full day here. The farm is absolutely picturesque- acres of lush green rolling hills, gorgeous skylines, and tons of life. The mornings have been filled with various work. Our major project(completed on Thursday) was the revegitation of a hillside with native New Zealand trees We planted more than 500 baby trees, adding to the mini Carpe Diem forest that has been started by past groups. Other jobs include grubbing thistles, mothering orphaned calves onto suragate mothers, checking and repairing waterlines and fences, and so on. After working we have had down time to relax and enjoy eachothers company. We have been openly welcomed into Anne's family and feel very at home. Getting to know Anne and her relatives has allowed us a taste of life as a WWOFer (Willing workers on organic farms). A few other highlights of our time here include: going to see the glow worms down the road, stargazing after the rain cleared out, learning a Maori song, seeing baby calves(they're extremely cute!) peacocks and an emu.

Trivia:
-Blackberries(which we spent some mornings grubbing out) were originally from England.
-There were no natural land animals in New Zealand, other than birds. The ones that live here were all brought in.

Hope all is well back in the States,
Katie

Pictures

Enjoy some pics of our time in Fiji-
Orientation in Nadi, Fiji:


Hindu Temple in Nadi(the largest on the Viti Levu island:


Buddhist Tree on the grounds of the Hindu Temple (gift from Sri Lanka, women who want to be married tie a yellow string around it):


Nananu Village:




Meaghan, Kathleen, Mike, and Brandon on the last night in the village:


Katie with her Nananu siblings and cousins on Family Day:

View from our first hike around Nananu:


The one and only Fiji Water Plant:


Pine Forrest Hike to a lookout house:



Beachouse on the Coral Coast, it was beautiful!:




There's more to come!
-Katie

All safe and sound in NZ!

Greetings folks from the Southern Hemisphere. We just wanted to let everyone that we are all safe and sound in Auckland, New Zealand. We have been totally unaffected by the tsunami/earthquake that has caused so much devastation to the Samoan islands. We are all hoping that the people of those islands are receiving the aid they need at this moment. Tomorrow, We are preparing to head out north of Auckland to a town called Warkworth for some sweet organic farming! Stay tuned we are in the midst of attempting to upload photos of our first couple of weeks. Much love from Fanz.

Goodbye Fiji Hello Kiwi's!

In the past week and a half we the travelers of the Carpe Diem Fanz group have experienced alot! Our village in Ninannu had setup one of the most unforgetable goodbyes and going away ceremonies I or anyone could have imagined. Tears were shed by every villager and host family member in the village. We were very choked up when they asked for forgiveness that they did not have more to offer when they had truely loved us all and given us if anything too much. Calle our village guide gave a speech and we recieved our Kava in reluctance rather than excitement all to the fact that we were leaving. After this painful goodbye and exchanging of gifts the group headed over to the luxurious Beach house resort in the Coral Coast of Fiji and decided to unwind; Warm showers, Warm beds, palm trees, easy beaches , and ofcourse a big juicy steak were just some of what was indulged in after two weeks in the village. This resort was very cheap and one of the most beautiful spots anyone on this trips has ever been too and I can personally attest to the fact that every male on the trip did flips into the pools within seconds of checking in. The relaxation was short lived because before we new it we were loading our packs into vans and on our way to the airport. One short day later here we are reporting to all you parents and future readers from Auckland New Zealand and boy is it a different place than our humble village of fiji. I am sad and happy to say we are once again in the world of skyscrapers, cityscapes, suits, and starbucks were instead of waking to the sound of roosters, we awake to the hustle and bustle of taxis / business men. In the back of my mind as a member of this group I am releived but also sad to see probably one of the harder parts of the trip over with. With Much Love from everyone on the FANZ trip this is James Flood writing from NZ. Talk to you soon!

Hello from the village

For the last week we have been working in the village and living with our homesteads. Upon arrival, we were introduced to our new family. That night we participated in the Fijian ritual of kava drinking. Over the next couple of days we lifted sandbags, learned to make cement, and hammered shoveled and wheelbarrowed. In other words we learned to really appreciate modern machinery. We also celebrated Kathleen's birthday. After work she was adorned like a queen, set at the head of the table, a sung to by many of the locals. However, for the last couple of days it has been very rainy, and thus we were forced indoors many times. Overall, the last week has been a change of pace for most of us who are used to our cozy American lives.

First update from the land down under!

Hello friends and family of carpe diem travelers!
This is the first of what I'm sure will be many updates from our trip on the blogosphere. There is really only good news to report thus far. We arrived in Nadi, Fiji at about 5 AM the morning of September 10th. Its not often that one is struck by natural beauty when stepping out of an airport, in fact I would say that it was the first time it has ever happened to me. It was cool and breezy that morning, and the sun was just rising, creating a red glow behind the hills. I knew then that I was going to have a very good trip in this place, and my premonition has proved true thus far.
We spent the first day mostly getting to know one another, playing ice breaker games and recovering from our long journey. By the end of the day, our group already felt tight, and that feeling has only increased since then. Our leaders are on the ball, and have laid out very reasonable guidelines for travel, along with good pointers on health and safety.
Yesterday we spent the day exploring Nadi. We split into groups of three and wandered the city, trying to take in all that we could. We met back at the hostel that afternoon and discussed our findings on the local customs, the people and the food. It is a common agreement among the group members that Fijians are righteously awesome. Sometimes their friendlyness is feigned in an effort to get us gringos to buy things. But often, it is completely legitimate, exemplified by big smiles and the many shouts of bula! (hello!) from people we walk past.
Each of these blogs will include a little fun fact or history about the place we find ourselves. In Fiji, Christianity became so widely accepted because of similarities to their traditional forms of worship: mana (meaning spiritual power) and taboo (sacred prohibitions). There are a number of interesting Taboos in Fijian culture that we have been learning. My favorite so far has to be that sitting in doorways is discouraged, because if a spirit should want to enter the house, their way should not be blocked. Fijians do still worship in traditional ways, including the Kava ceremony that the next blog will likely mention. There is going to be a Kava ceremony welcoming us to our next port of call, a northern village called Nannanu, where we will be volunteering for the next two weeks.
The food in Nadi so far has been great, strongly influenced by Indian cuisine which is a favorite of mine. It is going to be a little different in the village we are going to next, no doubt, but the group is excited about getting a taste of authentic Fijian cuisine and culture.
Today we spent the day in Newtown, the more touristy section of the city. The beach there was beautiful. The clear, warm water and palm trees along the shore are the evidence of my facebook status: "fiji: a true paradise." We swam and hung out for a few hours, and headed back downtown.
There is not much more to report, thus far. The group gets along really well together, and we are excited about getting the real itinerary of the trip underway since orientation has gone so well.
On a personal note, our arrival in Fiji reminded me of a part in book that I just read by one of my literary heroes, Hunter S. Thompson. He lived in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1958, before the place became a haven of tourists and rich americans. Some of his descriptions of the landscape of San Juan remind me a good deal of Nadi, but what really spoke to me in his writing was his sense of freedom and awe in a new and beautiful part of the world. Thus I'm going to end this post with a direct quote from The Rum Diary. I hope that all is well stateside.
"I was feeling better now, warm and sleepy and absolutely free, with the palms waving and the big sun burning down on the road ahead, I had a flash of something I hadn't had since my first days in Europe: a mixture of ignorance and a loose kind of what-the-hell confidence that comes to a man when the wind picks up, and he begins to move in a hard, straight line, toward an unknown horizon."

It's official ... let this journey begin!

I'm happy to report that I just got off the phone with our staff and the group is officially together and checked in for their international flight to Fiji. As for how things portend for this coming semester this is as smooth a union as I've seen and I'm sure this will be a transformative and enlivening semester for all!

... stay tuned for more blogs from the students starting once they land and running roughly every week.

Yours in spirit,

Ethan

Hello FANZers! This is Heather and Adam writing from Portland OR. We are here at Carpe HQ, taking care of final preparations for our upcoming adventure together through the South Pacific. We are looking forward to meeting you all very soon...Sept 8th at LAX. We are also looking forward to meeting all the wonderful people of the South Pacific who will be hosting us along the way and sharing their lives and cultures with us. We will be speaking with all of you on the phone before we leave, but also feel free to email us with any other questions you might have. Aside from that, enjoy your last week at home and we will see you soon!

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." -- Jawaharal Nehru

Under The Sea

Hey everyone! It's Tyler and Kay-Lin again, bringing you the latest update on our adventures from the Great Barrier Reef. After our final dive yesterday, we all became certified divers! Accquiriing our licenses included starting a 4 day course with Cairns Dive Center. Our instructor Lance had us watch instructional videos and even gave us homework, something most of us haven't done in a while! He and Mel, his assistant instructor, were really thoruogh in teaching us all the underwater technical skills that go along with scuba diving. At first some us were a little nervous about going underwater but once we got the hang of it, we were swimming around the pool like dolphins! After two days of training in the pool, we had a pretty intense boat ride out to the Great Barrier Reef. Our group was well prepared with sea-sickness pills but the other people on the boat were not so lucky. For two hours we were surrounded by people throwing up everywhere. It was defintiely a crazy experience. We were relieved to finally get to the Kangaroo Explorer, our liveaboard boat. Lance wasted no time in getting us into the ocean with our first open water dive. It was freaky while descending down into the murky water. At 15 meters down, we reached the sandy bottom where Lance had us practice our mask removal and regulator retrieval skills. We then swam around to look at the coral and abundant sea life. After returning to the boat, we had a 2 hour break before our next dive. The Kangaroo Explorer was on it's way to a new reef location when the waters got extremely choppy and we were violently tossed around the dining room. At 4 pm, we had our second dive of the day. The visibility was much better this time and everyone was more comfortable in the open water. Us two, Dawn and Reid even managed to go on a night dive! It was a little scary at first while jumping into the dark water but once we were below the surface everything seemed really calm and relaxing. The sea life at night is totally different from that during the day. There was a lot of red bass, cleaner shrimp, poisonous lionfish, a moray eel and a sting ray. It was definitly something we'll never forget. The whole group was pretty exhausted and collasped into their beds once we were done diving. At 5:30 am the next day, we were woken up by Mel screaming and banging on our doors. We forgot to mention that Lance and Mel are absolutely insane once they're out on the ocean, acting like two crazy kids! We had to suit up and get ready for our 6 am dive, which is when we saw a school of Maori Wrasse and even more lionfish. After that dive, we only needed one more dive to complete our certificatiions. On our final dive with our instructors we swam with a sea turtle and a sting ray! Shelby even had a sea cucumber attach itself to her hand. Don't worry parents, she's still fully intact. Before leaving the reef, we got to do one solo dive with our buddies. We got to rent an underwater camera and you can see the photos below. Shelby and Marissa even found a nemo, which apparently can change their sex in case the female is eaten or abandons her anemone.

Now that diving is over, we are trying to enjoy our last two days together. So this is our last post and we've loved sharing all our memories and experiences with you these past three months. Can you believe its over!? We can't wait to see you in a few days!


With lots of love to everyone,
-Kay-Lin, Tyler, Chelsea, Marissa, Reid, Elizabeth, Blake, and Shelby

Om Mani Padme Hum Everyone, Om Mani Padme Hum

Hello everyone, this is Tyler and Kay-lin giving you all an update (if you remember the amazing blog post way back from Auckland, you should be excited).

Anyways, we spent our last few days in alice springs hanging out by the pool and watching good movies at night. It was all very relaxing and peaceful UNTIL the morning of our departure, two girls (Chelsea and Elizabeth) woke up with a surprise. The girls were covered in bed-bug bites, Chelsea had 72 alone on her left forearm. At first this little turn of events was hilarious to all of us, but hours later it turned into a serious nightmare. Slowly it began to spread throughout the entire group (excluding your dear bloggers- thank god). Luckily Kay-Lin stopped by the hospital and found heavy duty anti-ich/numbing cream. A few days later, once the epidemic (much worse than the Swine Flu) had spread to others, Marissa had had enough and went on a mass cleaning frenzy and exterminated the bed-bugs once and for all. So don't worry, the critters are gone and we'll be a bunch of clean kids coming back to our homes.

Thankfully, the meditation at Chenrezig Buddhist Institute helped a lot of the infected group memebers deal with their itching and scratching. Our week at Chenrezig was filled with yoga, meditation, Buddhist lectures, and great food! We got to pick the brain of Sonam- the coolest nun ever, for an hour each night. Sonam was eloquent and intellectual in answering our endless questions on the philosophy of meditation and Buddhism. We also were able to challenge our flexibility, balance, and minds with multiple yoga sessions with our wonderful teacher Lorie. We think we speak for everyone when we say that we definitely want to explore more yoga and meditation when we get home. Additionally, there was a Mani Retreat happening while we were staying at CI. We were able to partake in a Mani session. This meant repeating Om Mani Padme Hum 108 times while counting prayer beads and then repeating the 108 cycle as many times as possible in an alotted amount of time. We also learned a lot about the situation in Tibet with the Chinese occupation. We got some time away from Chenrezig when we visited the Eummundi markets and the Australian zoo. The markets were ridiculously huge with free food samples galore (including the best banana smoothie ever). And for those of you who didn't know, the Australian Zoo was famously funded by the Irwin family. Everyone that went (Tyler, Blake, and Drew stayed back at Chenrezig) took the opportunity to see the famous crodidile show and loved it.

We were all sad to leave Chenrezig but at the same time all very excited to start scuba diving. But before we could start that, we had to endure the longest, meaning 41 hour, train ride of our lives. Everything that could have possibly gone wrong did, but we still managed to make the best of it and we all had a great time and it was an interesting experience. This included horrible stomach aches for those who ate the "bangers-and-mash" (sausage and mashed potatoes) and they had a hard time sleeping in their triple-bunk claustrophobic rooms.

We're now in Cairns for our last week of the trip (crazy i know) and today was our first day learning how to scuba dive. It involved sitting and watching instructional videos, swim tests, and actually practicing skills in the pool. We have one more day of pool diving and then we finaly get out onto the Great Barrier Reef! We'll spend two days diving and a night on the boat, some of us are nervous for the open water but we all know it will be an amazing experience. There's even going to be an optional night dive (which Tyler and Kay-Lin are for sure doing)!

We'll plan on updating you one last time before we say our goodbyes. So until then, we miss you and love you all, see you in a week! ahhh!

-Kay-Lin and Tyler

P.S. we'll post photos of Alice Springs, Chenrezig, the train, and some UNDERWATER PHOTOS (we're all chipping in to rent an underwater camera) in our next post.

Swine Flu - Update from Carpe Diem HQ

The following is a post recently made to our FAQ page that we wanted to include to all of you who might be reading this blog.

Swine flu has recently been confirmed throughout Mexico and parts of the US. A few other countries have also reported possible infections. While we're in touch with the CDC and monitoring all of the international news we can put our hands on, we also feel we are uniquely placed to handle the situation given that all of our field staff are trained in Wilderness Medicine; two of our office staff are currently Emergency Room nurses; and the other is a Wilderness EMT. We also have contact with a variety of local doctors (including a few with advanced training in international and tropical medicines) that should needs require we can reach out to.

Our spring & fall 2009 programs will continue to run as scheduled although we plan on requiring flu shots for our fall programs as they have been proven (with Avian Flu for instance) to much reduce any severity of infection. We may also choose to outfit our medical kits with extra supplies such as extra hand sanitizer and the like.

Swine Flu is an offshoot of the 1918-19 flu: just as every flu since then has been. In that strain of flu as well as most that have followed including Swine, Pneumonia has been the actual concern and the one we're most on guard for. The good news is that once recognized there are very good treatments for Pneumonia and we are very familiar with good doctors in the areas our students travel. Of course we plan on continuing to take the proactive approach and deal with any medical potentialities quickly and professionally. Since that initial pandemic in 1918, the subsequent strains have historically been more and more benign. The Swine Flu is presenting thankfully as a low-mortality flu (currently, in the US as an example, there have been 50 suspected cases and only one took an overnight in the hospital before being discharged in good health). So, while this particular flu strain is stronger than the typical seasonal flu, we are hopeful that it will continue to be as easily treatable as it has been.

Groovy Grape/ Alice Springs

Hello folks!

Marissa and Chelsea checking in again. So our last post left off with us about to head to our Groovy Grape experience. In case all of you are wondering "Groovy Grape" is a tour bus experience- in which a group of about 20 people (including the ten of us) sightsee the outback. Over the coarse of a few days our bus added on the miles- as we traveled to some of Australias top tourist attractions (Such as Ayers rock). At first, some of us were not to keen on the idea of participating in such a touristy trip- but with the help of our lovely (as well as hysterical) 6'7" tour guide Aubrey aka- Aubs, Orbit, etc, we happily adjusted (or at least the girls did). Within our outback adventure we visited many sights including- Uluru (Ayers Rock), William Creek (AU's smallest town), numerous Aboriginal cave paintings, Cooper Pedy (where 80% of the world's opals come from), and King's Canyon (where we participated in a hike). During the course of this week we also celebrated Dawns birthday- which we started the day off waking up at 5' to watch the sunrise (which Dawn thoroughly enjoyed).

Easter was celebrated with lots of chocolate and long hours in the bus (and one special Easter Bunny suprise!). Overall we ended up really enjoying our trip and were sad to see our new friends go (especially our hottie of a tour guide...)

But things were looking up when we remembered that we had a week of relaxation in Alice Springs ahead of us. After being lazy bums for a day, we rented bikes and pedaled to a desert park 7 kilos from the hostel. Our hostel, by the way, is frickin cool. There is a pool, music is always blastin, and we have officially made ourselves at home.

Soon enough we'll say goodbye to Alice Springs and spend our last roughly 15 real days (Can you believe it?!, we sure as hell cant) in Australia on a yogic retreat just outside of Brisbane and scuba diving the Great Barrier reef.

Overall we are looking forward into making these last few weeks in the land down under extrodinary.

and with that,

Adios!

Chelsea and Marissa ;)

So many pictures!

Hello everyone, sorry its taken so long for pictures, but here's a huge recap of everything going all the way back to the Routeburn Track. Enjoy!


Shelby jumping over Ayers Rock


Reid, Marissa, Kay-Lin and Tyler watching the sun rise on Dawn's Birthday


Aubry, our crazy tour guide on the Groovy Grape (you'll hear more about this in the next post)


Looking for wombats!


Lunch break in the desert while monitoring wombat holes


The whole group after seeing a show at the opera house


The BEST ice cream any of us have ever had, our last day in Queenstown


Kayaking in Milford Sound


Jumping for joy on the Routeburn Track


Hiking on the Routeburn

Hello from Australia! Chelsea and Marissa checking-in! Sorry it took so long for us to post since the sheep farm but we have just been so busy with our travels.

After the sheep farm we spent two fabulous nights in Queenstown, NZ preparing for the upcoming Routeburn Trek. The trek was 32 kilometers (around 20 miles) and took us only 3 days. Through the trek we were surrounded by a variety of beautiful scenery- woods, mountains, waterfalls GALORE. After each long, eventful day of busting our asses we were pleased with the cleanliness and friendliness of our cabins. One of the biggest pieces of the trek was planning group meals, which eventually (and unfortunately) led to the up-chucking of Reid Miller. Our ten hour/15 mile journey on the second day finally ended with the best cup of Milo we'd ever had. The third day we all awoke at 5 in the pitch-black morning to hike out and finish our journey, some of us without a headlamp... Chelsea and Elizabeth... Which led us directly into a tough day of kayaking the Milford Sound. The day of kayaking started off easy-breezy; all of us enjoying our beautiful surroundings with big open smiles. Yet as the hours passed, the forces of nature grew stronger. For some of us those big open smiles quickly turned into angry frustrated grit teeth as we battled those forces of nature. Some of us were quickly taken away at sea, needing the assistance of our trusty guide Oly, as he harnessed Kay-Lin and Chelsea's kayak to his. But thankfully we all reached land safely.

The rest of the day and the next was spent at the only accommodation in the Milford Sound (the Milford Sound Lodge). April Fool's Day was not forgotten either.

We spent our last day in NZ in Queenstown again, where we enjoyed a family meal followed by the most massive, mouth-watering gelato cone anyone had ever had. With very full bellies we slept all having very good dreams knowing that Australia was "just around the river bend..."

SYDNEY!! Carpe Diem was in da house. Kings Cross, where we stayed within the city, was dirty but we still had a good time. The Botanical Gardens, Opera House, and Hyde Park were all fab-u-lous. Our first day we were given a super cool SCAVENGER HUNT CHALLENGE!! We got into, real into it. The hunt nearly ended friendships as the teams competed for the romantic dinner prize. The next day, the group split up according to which markets they wished to visit. Tyler, Shelby, and Marissa all had plans of hitting up a few. After walking through Paddy's market, and purchasing a fluorescent pink wig on Marissa's part, things went wrong. Marissa was left behind on the train, and had to fend for herself for the rest of the day... all whist wearing the fluorescent wig.

Our last night, we all attended a play at the Opera House called "The Alchemist." We all enjoyed the play except for poor soul (Chelsea). Again the night ended with ice cream.

Then we hit up Adelaide, where the group settled in chilling with the kangaroos and wombats. There we spent the next few days there working on a Australian conservation project counting wombat burrows in order to count there population (very important in helping protect these cute cuddly creatures). For all of you that didn't know what the wombat creature is - it is a marsupial that looks like a cross between a guinea pig, pig, and a chinchilla- overall a cute little bugger. Our guide Katie became our new best friend as we begged her to cook us more pancakes, and with here eagle eyes she even pointed out two wild wombats, a emu, and a plentyfull amount of kangaroos. Today (April 9th) we left our house in the outback into travel back to civilization to prepare for our next adventure on Groovy Grape where we will be touring the outback. Till next time! Love the fab 10.


Chelsea
Marissa

WWOOFing pictures

drenching

more drenching

Snow with his dogs early in the morning.

Elizabeth, Marissa and Walter (an austrian working on the farm) fenching.

Dawn, Tyler, Elizabeth and Chelsea before work.

Reid (in the back) getting ready to draft some sheep.

WWOOFing it up!

Hey all! Tonight is our last night at the WWOOFing farm and, I must say, we are all a little sad to be leaving. We've had such a fun time getting back to our cowboy/farming roots. :D Our stay at Graham's farm has been very interesting and eventful. There are a variety of jobs here that we all participated in. Some days a group of us would ride around the farm, fixing fences as we went, while the other group got down and dirty with the sheep. I think most of the group would agree when I say that working with the sheep was a blast. My personal favorite sheep activity was drenching. Let me paint a picture for you. First everyone chases the sheep into a long, narrow pen. When they're all packed in like sardines two people hop into the pen with them. One person [the drencher] is wearing a ghost buster-like backpack complete with a squirt nozzle gun. The backpack is filled with a rich yellow liquid that supposedly contains key nutrients for the sheep. So, the drencher has to get a sheep in between his or her legs, grab the sheep's mouth, shove the squirt gun into it's mouth, and spray the nutrients into the back of it's throat. The other person [we'll call them the yanker] stands behind the drencher and pulls the sheep that have been done back behind them. Now, mind you, sheep are quite stupid and stubborn animals. On top of that, when they get into panic mode anything could happen. Elizabeth got taken down by one within the first 20 minutes of working with them [dangerous stuff! ;)]. Back to the drenching, you basically have to struggle to get them in a headlock position while they are fighting for their lives, trying to wriggle away. One tactic some of the sheep used, that got annoying quickly, was hiding their heads or their entire bodies underneath other sheep! The best part, however, was getting to climb on/crowd surf the sheep just to get the job done. Oh! And the entire time this was going on you could also be getting peed on [or in Chelsea's case pooed on] or somehow manage to get poo in your mouth [Kay-Lin] haha. In simpler terms you and the poo became attached at the hip, literally. We were all definitely dirty boys and girls. It was intense!

On an even more disgusting note, a few of us had the pleasure of witnessing a a sheep slaughter. Now, they didn't get to see the sheep get killed, but they did have the pleasure of witnessing a horrific and stomach churning skinning, hanging, and gutting of a sheep. I also heard that Snow, the man performing these deeds, was throwing various parts of the dead sheep at people as a joke. Drew was the receiver of that one haha oh man.

Another really cool thing about staying at this farm was that there was another family staying here as well. The family is made up of a couple, PJ and Tom, and their three kids: George, 8; Ben, 6; and Rosie, 4. They are the sweetest and cutest family ever with matching red hair. I feel like they definitely welcomed us into their family. PJ gave a lot of us good pointers on cooking, while Tom turned us into handymen. It was awesome :).

We are off to Queenstown in the morning to start prepping for our big hike coming up. I'll keep you guys posted on our groups crazy adventures, but it's getting late and I still need to pack! So goodnight and I'll ttyl!

- Shelby

Picture update

All of us at our work site plus Peter.


An example of our professional level cooking at our last youth hostile.


Forest walk with Stephen King (not the one you're thinking of).





We still are going to post a few pictures from OPC and our extreme 2 day hike. We'll probably do that later today.
-Tyler