A Notion

February 6. I was really looking forward to starting the day because we had 3 amazing experiences planned. Elise and Erik explained that Sundays are usually dedicated to having as much fun as possible, so there was little cultural experience today. Upon explaining this to me, I had a realization that I want to share with you. The Rustic Pathways “Essentials” trips are described as deep cultural immersions, but in my experience, that is only half true. The time is split between the examination of the culture and experiencing fun activities that are usually exclusive to the country you are in. If you are looking for more of a volunteer or cultural experience activity, I would go with the “Skills” or “Give.” Many of the kids I’m with gave me useful info on these programs and they definitely tally with my notion.

                Anyway, we left the hostel at 8am and drove 2 hours to a hill where you can Zorb. For those of you who don’t know what a Zorb is, it is a plastic orb 12’ in diameter that strongly resembles a hamster ball. There is a hole in which a person can slide into the center of the Zorb. They put about 10 gallons of water in with you as well. So we put on our bathing suits and were driven to the top of the hill. There was a choice of going in doubles, which most of the girls did, and there was the choice of going alone, which the guys did. The difference was that if you wanted to go tandem, you had to roll down the shorter path. If you wanted to go solo, you could roll down the longer, zigzag path. Naturally, I went solo. I climbed into my Zorb, with 10 gallons of freezing water, and was pushed from the top of the hill. It was chaos. I tried to stand up and run in the ball, but every time I tried I was thrown into the water. The mixture of banking the turns and not being able to see (due to the dirt on the ball) made for a hectic and dizzying ride, but it was part of the fun. I laughed out loud the entire time while the water attacked me from every which way. After they pulled me from the ball I bounced on the balls of my feet, trying to expel the rush of adrenaline. When they took my picture I jumped high into the air in my excitement (which I have posted no matter how embarrassing).

                From there we left to an extreme sport activity center. The two activities they offered today were intense speed boating and free falling. We did the speed boating first, which is the second world class racing boat we have been on in our first 6 days. This was, however, the opposite of a sailboat. This boat, driven by the world class racer, carved the banks with intense speed that caused a 5 foot wall of water to expel from the back. I rode with Dave, who is easily the craziest and most fun kid on the trip. The driver turned out 180s like they were nothing. We lost our voices by the second loop (there were 4). The driver finished big with a legendary 360 into its slot and we stumbled onto the deck, too giddy to speak.

                We headed up a nearby tower to the free fall area. 5 minutes later we were suited up with overlarge suits with large holes cut through them. Calling this experience a free fall is a bit misleading, because it consisted of you being pushed up by a powerful fan which simulates the experience of sky diving. So our group was shown the basic safety tips and silent instructions we would need when free falling. We individually strolled onto the area where you would be pushed up by the fan and laid down on a layer of netting, the only thing separating me from a fan that can lift 1000 pounds. The fan started and I was immediately lifted high into the air, almost hitting the top net. I didn’t have perfect form throughout the entire experience. On the contrary I kept looking down in exclamation and apprehension, taking temporary looks at the enormous blades of the fan. During the periods where I did have perfect the instructors spun me around and flipped me on my back where I hovered ominously. My face felt like it was being pushed into my skull and I would bet that I looked hilarious because my group kept chuckling during my turn. Suddenly the instructor thrust me out of the air and I floated gracefully to the ground. That was an experience that will be etched in my mind forever. Apparently it was nothing like sky diving however, because Dave (who has been sky diving) told me it was completely different. Maybe I’ll try sky diving in the states.

                From there we drove to yet another hostel. I lathered up on sunscreen (hope your proud mom and dad) and went for another run. From there I dipped in the pool to cool off and helped cook dinner with the group leaders, which was a delicious dinner of make-your-own tacos. After dinner I came up to blog, a huge feat in my opinion because of how exhausted I feel. Even now I’m slipping off to sleep so this is where my day ends. Thanks for reading everyone.

Flightless and Fearless

February 5. This morning was incredibly frantic. I woke up at 8:45am and had to shower, have breakfast, and do a little exercise (I have been trying to keep up my girlish figure while I’m here) before we left at 7:15 . Remarkably I did it all before we were on the road for another 2 hours.

 We stopped at a Kiwi farm first. For those of you who don’t know a Kiwi, it is an indigenous bird of New Zealand that is rapidly going extinct. It resembles the characteristics of the Dodo bird, with two legs, short wings, and a heavy flightless body. However, it possesses a long thing beak. So we went through a tour and learned much about these nocturnal animals, while also seeing and learning about other native creatures. The guide ranged from creatures such as lizards to owls. We were also able to hold a Kiwi, which was similar to holding a large and heavy cotton ball. We picnicked right outside the farm for lunch, but we were soon on our way to cave tubing.

We drove another hour to the cave tubing tourist location. The people were very friendly. We were soon suited up with 5mm wetsuits, booties, a helmet, and a tube. We had to drive to the cave site, and all the while I wondered why we needed a 5mm wetsuit (the water had been incredibly warm so far). So we hauled our too heavy bodies out of the bus and walked ¼ a mile to the cave entrance, which was about 5’ high and 2’ wide. We squeezed through the entrance and trekked along the tunnel (the only source of light was our headlamps). The water rushed along our feet, and I realized why we had 5mm wetsuits on. The water had an icy chill that penetrated to your bones. It made for an uncomfortable, but not less exciting, cave tubing experience. We hopped in our rafts and drifted (at a Lazy River speed) for about 10 minutes through a passage where the ceiling was, I kid you not, 1’ 6” high from the water. After the 10 minutes, the cave opened up to a magnificent opening, large enough to fit a cathedral in. We were instructed to turn off our headlamps and look up. What I saw almost made me topple off my tube. There were billions of tiny glowing dots, way up on the ceiling. It was as if the night sky was etched on the cave ceiling. We soon discovered that these green lights were actually maggots, which mixed my awe with slight repulsion. 30 minutes later we came to a 15’ waterfall. We had to dive into the abyss with our tubes pressed against our butts. It was alarming, but we all survived the leap. So we trekked and waded through the cave a bit more, stopping occasionally for photos and chocolate, and finally came out through “light at the end of the tunnel.” I will never forget that experience, I would say it was one of the best so far.

So we got back to the car, after taking more photos and eating bagels, and drove 10 minutes to the nearest hostel. This was even better than the last. Equipped with pool, hot tub, trampoline, and washing machine! We were in heaven. After some pool time, 3 loads of laundry, and an intense rugby pickup game with some locals, we hiked up the pub to have dinner and watch rugby (New Zealand vs. Kenya). After about 3 hours the group started drinking and getting rambunctious, which was my cue to start documenting my day, but now I’m finished and I think I’ll go back to the pub to see how much of a fool everyone has become. Thanks for reading and keep the feedback coming!

All of us hanging off the side of the world class racing boat.

Our group at the top of the mountain after sailing.

Me jumping from the 192 meter platform.

The End of Boundaries

February 4. This morning was particularly uneventful. After waking up at 6am, we drove 6 hours to a desolate farm hostel near the ocean. The hostel was surprisingly comfortable. It possessed many luxuries that most of our group would have taken for granted in U.S. All we had time to do, however, was throw down our stuff and drive to the ocean to surf. In the car Elise asked us if any of us had surfed before. Only a handful of us had, and only 3 of us (including myself) were experienced.

 Upon arriving at the beach, we were greeted by 5 local children. They yelled, jumped on us, and enjoyed our expressions as they picked and poked our unfamiliar faces. What Elise didn’t tell us was that the 3 experienced surfers would be teaching the local children to surf and the rest would be receiving surf lessons. Brian, Ben, and I put on wetsuits, grabbed longboards, and threw the local kids in the water. We played and laughed as we rode the whitewash, appreciating more and more how the children cherish moments like these. Only after 3 hours did we realize that it was dusk, so with no other option, we said our goodbyes and drove home.

The dinner at home was a really enjoyable affair. The awkward boundaries between the group members seemed to have been washed away by the surf. We acted more like a family than ever before. Ben and I tried to fix the hostel’s wifi (with no success) while the girls made rice and stir-fry in the kitchen. The rest of the boys were cooking chicken on the “barbie” and we joined them after an hour of frustrating results with the wifi. After dinner was wolfed down, we sat around the TV and watched Lord of the Rings: Return of the King which was totally sick because the movie was actually filmed in New Zealand (hope we see the location). Afterwards, we crawled into our comfortable beds, with nothing but the call of the Kiwi birds to fall asleep to.

Catching the Wind

               February 3rd. Being woken up by some drunken and wild hostile roommates at 6am isn’t fun, but it happens when you’re traveling cheap in New Zealand. Afterwards I had no choice but to shower and have breakfast. At 7:30am we drove for 2 hours to a remote harbor in Russell. I was euphoric to see that we would be sailing a world class racing sailboat to an island for some lunch and a swim, and when I say sail, I mean sail. We got to pull up the main sail, control the jib and we got to steer the boat. I also finally mastered the bowline knot, which I have been having trouble with every day since my 5 years of sailing camp.

We had lunch “on the Barbie” and kayaked to an island with wild sheep. Not surprisingly, there was poop everywhere, but the view more than made up for the smell. We played a little rugby on the hillside and kayaked back, but not before idiotically trying to herd sheep until they were irritated enough to chase us off the island.

When we arrived back at the sailboat we were awed by the appearance of 5 wild dolphins playing with the crewmates. After carefully approaching them we were able to swim alongside the dolphins while they happily danced through the water. After watching them fade into the sunset, throwing their bodies over waves, we were forced to board the ship home.

Back on shore we roamed around town and found a Thai restaurant, which was a must for dinner. Afterwards, we picked up some gelato and crawled home for our hostile in exhaustion. The group was a bit bored at that point, but we found a game of twister that we amused ourselves with for at least an hour. I suspect they would’ve left without playing, but as I wasn’t allowed to go out to the bars they made an effort to keep me entertained and involved.

So they’ve left an hour ago, and I am here in the hostile writing my blog. I don’t mind what so ever. It’s like living the adventure over again, but sharing the experience with the world. It’s invaluable to alleviate myself of all my memories and reflect on how this experience is affecting me. So far it’s hard to notice any difference in my knowledge or maturity, but I will notify you all when I finally come to realize it. Thanks again to all my followers and to those of you who have commented on my blog.