"Who in their right might, if had a choice between living and pancakes would choose pancakes?" "Harold, if you'd pause to think, I believe you would realize that that answer would be strictly contingent between the type of life being led, and of course the quality of the pancakes." ~Stranger than Fiction
The more I think about my life the more I realize how truly blessed I am.This update is about a recent call for adventure and my willingness to answer.Ok, admittedly, it’s nothing quite so dramatic, it’s basically the summation of my Christmas vacation and 3 weeks spent in New Zealand and Australia, but in fairness, it was a pretty sweet adventure and I am not even sure where to start.
It was Emily, Jen, Chris Fenter and myself.Chris was meeting up with us from the states in the Korea airport to fly south.Our first stop was in Auckland, New Zealand, where we were met coming out of the gate by an old friend from my time in Croatia, Charan.She was putting us up for the night at her dad’s house out in the country side.It was really the perfect way to start the trip, a straight up home-stay with a kiwi family.Here dad was a riot, and very hospitable, staying at their house was like walking into a house in the states with wall to wall carpeting, light colors, and large kitchens.It was a great opportunity to get a glimpse into the kiwi life and mind frame.That night we had a traditional fish and chips dinner, and lets just say it did me in for fried food for the rest of the trip.We tried a dish called paua, which is a type of shellfish and is also to be said is aphrodisiac.It tasted like black seafood with a thick mushy consistency, it’s tough to describe.Another kiwi dish we ate was pavlova.The next day we took our rental car and headed to Hot Water Beach, which is basically a beach that if you dig holes in the sand the heat from the rocks below will heat up the water that washes in from the sea, it was pretty cool.After that we went to Cathedral Cove, which was another beach with gorgeous rock formations.
The night we stayed at Charan’s house and Jen met Charan’s cat named “Fart”.Ok, so that’s not what it’s name was, but it was pretty funny to hear Jen calling , “come here Fart, here Fart!”The next day we went to Ruakuri Cave and saw glow worms, and that night was Christmas eve, so we spent in a hostel in Aukland, and we went to a local Korean norae bong, it was pretty hilarious and fun.To celebrate we sat around our hostel room and made t-shirts.For Christmas we were in Christchurch and we saw a chapel in the square that was amazing.Interesting thing about the chapel there was a swastika on the wall of it that dated before the war (1885) and they said at the time it was a symbol of prosperity.I think it was interesting, not sure how I feel about it, although I wonder if the symbol no longer means that that maybe they should remove it.The same day in Christchurch there was the bubble guy, ask me someday about him, it was another fascinating thing.For dinner that guy we ate at this English pub called The Bard, and it seriously looked and felt like something out of Lord of The Rings.One thing we did a lot of on the trip was play Poker Bull, I think that would make all you college folks proud, we played it a lot, right Emily?“Pair of Aces, pair of Kings, Ace high”After that we headed to the Chistchurch modern art museum.
From there we hit the road for some serious road tripping.The New Zealand country side is just amazing, and we were able to all really bond during that time.“Data, Spock, Cpt. Picard” “OMG, They’re all turning me on”.We found ourselves in Queenstown, and let me just say about the place quickly…IT”S A LIE!There I said it, they try to make themselves out to be this chilled hippie town, that’s all laid-back and happy to have you there, but it’s a lie.It’s all about the money, that’s all anyone there really cares about, and how to get your money.Also, I felt bad for being an American there, so that kinda sucked.Apart from that though, the town was pretty cool, any extreme activity you wanted to do you could do there.While there we bungee jumped off of Kawarau Bridge, the site of the first commercial bungee jump, then Fenter and I went Rockclimbing, hiking, and luging.
Ok, now I know some of you wondering if we went on a Lord of the Rings tour, well we did not, but while skydiving from 12,000 feet my jump guide pointed out numerous sites that the movies was filmed while we were floating dow, so it was practically the same.
So we arrived in Sydney, Australia on New Years Eve, and after a bit of struggle to find our villa, we headed “The Rocks”for New Years festivities.Let me just say it was BRILLIANT!It was quite the party and watching fireworks come up from behind Opera House and then looking around to see fireworks in every direction coming off of every building is just beautiful!After that people just spend the night dancing in the street, it was pretty fun!After that we met up with one of Emily’s friends and she gave us a walking tour of Sydney- Darling Harbor, Opera House, Town Hall, Kings Cross, Potts Point, and Royal Botanical Gardens.In the Gardens we saw these HUGE bats hanging from the trees in the middle of the day.The next day was overcast so instead of hitting the beach we went to the Modern Art Museum and Taronga Zoo and that night we went to a luxury movie theatre with these awesome reclining seats and you own arm rests etc. for $18 a ticket!
The next day we flew north to the coastal town of Cairns.This was probably my favorite town and stop of the whole trip.For the majority of the trip we had rain/overcast, but here it was mostly sunny, on top of that it was a legit chilled hippie town, the people were friendly, our hostel was dirty, smelly, and all around awesome, there was a rarely inhabited hammock in the common room that I liked to occupy while the ladies were getting ready.The first day there I was able to use my long dormant SCUBA certification and Fenter and I did 3 dives on the Great Barrier Reef.It was mind blowing!We saw clown fish, stingrays and amazing fish; I even got so close to a sea turtle that I could probably have touched it!The feeling of diving alone is so exhilarating; it feels like you are flying above a tiny little world below.Emily did an intro dive and then went snorkeling with Jen during that time.The next day we went on Uncle Brian’s rainforest tour, ok so I know at the sound of it might sound lame, but it was actually quite awesome, and we were able to meet some really cool people through.Basically at the crack of dawn we hop in a mini-bus filled with a bunch of other tourists and sing songs and play silly games while they drive us around to different water falls in the area. It was hilarious and beautiful, at one point we went on this natural waterslide made out of rocks where people would do stunts on them like it was some kind sport.To wrap up the night we drove back singing at the top of our lungs, going pretty nuts, and then a bunch of us went out afterwards and hung out for the night.The next morning we were catching our flight back but took in an early movie at 10:10am for only 15 bucks.
All in all, I could not have imagined a more amazing trip.I often feel like I have to pinch myself to remind myself that my life isn’t just a dream.I have been so lucky/blessed to experience the things I have done.Being down under was an opportunity for me to really embrace life for all its worth, and get the most out of it.It’s gotten me thinking a lot lately about people’s goals in life and what they hope to accomplish, and who they want to be.I’ve realized that my life will never be dull; I always want to be trying to get the most of life.In answer to my quote at the beginning from Stranger Than Fiction, which by the way is an amazing movie and you should watch it; I don’t want pancakes, it doesn’t matter how good they are, my life is worth the living.I feel like as often as I avoid being preachy or “Christianese” in my xanga, I need to give credit where credit is due, and God has been good to me, and He deserves my gratitude.
