Back in the USA!!!

Hello everyone!!! I am soooooooo excited to be back in the US! The last week in New Zealand was totally crazy with all sorts of activities, shopping and seeing people before I left. I can't tell you how happy I was to not sleep in a dorm room last night! I had such a wonderful time in NZ and made so many friends for life. My plan now is to spend a couple of weeks here in Kona with my grandparents and then head to AZ for about 10 days and finally back home to WA where I'll be hanging out with the family and looking for a "Real" job.

I hope everyone is well and thanks for reading the blog! I'll try and upload the rest of my pictures as soon as I have a chance!

-Lisa

Pictures of Blenheim and Napier

Pictures of Blenheim:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2305467&l=dcc90&id=10001326

Pictures of Napier:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2305471&l=87cc0&id=10001326

Beautiful Bay of Islands!!!

Okay so after almost the entire day on the bus yesterday, we arrived in Paihia (Bay of Islands) at about 6pm. We're staying in a cute little backpacker's called "The Pickled Parrot" where they actually have a pet parrot hanging around. The weather was supposed to be rainy yesterday and today, but fortunately it's been dry! The town is super cute and the bay is absolutely gorgeous!!!

But since we left Rotorua we've been to both Tauranga (Bay of Plenty) and Coromandel Town on the Coromandel Penninsula. We weren't having the best time in Tauranga (unfriendly people, no sleep in an 8 bed dorm the size of my room at home) so we left after 2 nights. Then we moved on to Coromandel Town (which is super tiny) on the Coromandel Penninsula. It rained almost the entire time we were there!!! But it was cool because we were able to hang out in a mostly empty hostel/holiday park/motel and relax! We were supposed to share our room with another couple of people, but since it was so quiet we had the room to ourselves! The second day we were there it rained so hard it was flooding the streets and I was afraid the power would go out. Luckily it didn't...but only in Coromandel. Apparently the whole North Island and a good portion of the South Island were hit by the storm too. The power went out in Auckland and one man died from lighting strikes while a school group of kids were lost resulting in 6 student and 1 teacher's deaths. Yikes!

Well, we have booked two day tours up here for the next couple of days: A Catamaran ride around the Bay of Islands with swimming, kayaking, snorkeling and other activities tomorrow and then a trip up to Cape Reinga and 90 mile beach on Sunday! Then we're off to Auckland for the last few days before we fly out!

In Rotorua

Okay so I'm going to quickly update what's been going on since we left Napier on Monday. But first, we were able to see Ed and Andrea one more time in Napier before Andrea flew out yesterday and who knows what Ed's doing. We quit work on Friday, after being completely miserable with allergies--my eyes were swollen, my throat sore and I could hardly breath! Yikes! So we left Napier for Lake Taupo on Monday. We just spent 3 nights there at a great backpackers (Rainbow Lodge) with comfortable beds and a dry sauna! Woohoo! The weather turned cold though, it felt very much like autumn. We basically relaxed and walked around Taupo for the 3 days.

This morning we left Taupo and came to Rotorua! The weather has warmed up (thank God!) and the town has a lot of shops, cafes and activities to offer. Today we're walking around checking out the souvenier shops, the lake and maybe the museum. Tomorrow we're headed off for a full day of walking around a couple of thermal/volcanic parks so that should be interesting! There are so many thermal spas and mineral pools around this area that it constantly smells of sulfur! The place we're staying tonight (Central Backpackers) is super nice though.

Okay well just over 2 weeks left in NZ! So I'm off to take pictures for all of you to look at!

-Lisa