I Can't Believe it Hasn't Even Been a Week!

Just a quick lil addition... I have never realized how lucky we Albertans are to live in such a disaster-free zone... We went to the National Museum in Wellington and there was a whole section dedicated to all the potential natural disasters... In fact they have a unique organization that is set up that covers everyone in NZ for the following likely disasters; earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanos, etc etc.... In Alberta all we have to worry about is minor floods, drought, and the occasional mini tornado... There was a sign in the museum with this cheerful message, "There is nowhere in New Zealand that is safe from natural disasters!" haha... The boys say they experience an earthquake every couple weeks or so...

Jamie was kind enough to accompany us to the local "Wal-Mart" kind-

of-place so I could purchase a very over-priced hairdryer (but I must say that I don't think I can go 5 months without one) and there we had ourselves a little bit of fun at the warehouse on our search for Halloween costumes (not so successful) when we came across dancing Santas!!! Check out the video!!!

Luv, V

Wellington...the city that we love!

Everyday that we stay in Wellington the more the fall in love with the city and Wellingtonians (what they call themselves...kinda like we are Albertans). We had a lazy morning again, which is becoming routine for us, filled with skype chatting to family and friends and finally some showers for some fellow travellers...it's impressive how long we can go without washing our hair...impressive or disgusting?

We went for a hike that Valena and I were not looking too forward to because we had the pressure of performing to the serious hikers of the group, but it turned out to be lovely! I, being the Lord of the Rings fan out of the group, was quite excited to find a spot that they filmed the first movie in with the Hobbits! It was amazing walking from the city into the hills (in the middle of the city) and to be in the most amazing green piece of heaven! We just couldn't get enough of it! But we had to end it eventually to take Jaime some coffee since we promised him that yesterday and didn't commit! We just love to take Jaime's car and go around the city...especially to the grocery store!! Valena is becoming an excellent kiwi driver. I trust her!!

So the interesting thing is even though we have only been four days I have noticed that each lady is picking up some kiwi tendencies....

Danielle: loves to throw in a "mate" or "cheers" into the everyday conversation, we of course make fun of her for trying to be a natural kiwi!

Valena: is the official driver and actually opens the drivers door on the right side instead of the left with only one incident of driving on the "wrong side"!

Jodie: has definitely mastered looking both ways crossing the road since we tend to look one way and tend to miss the vehicle heading towards us.

I (Brittany): has taken a keen liking (thanks to Jaime saying it all the time) to saying "mmmm" and nodding my head in response to any comment. It's addicting and so easy that I can't help it! Of course I bug Jaime about it constantly!

Tonight we are trying "hokey pokey" ice cream...a delicacy for the kiwi's!!! Luv B

NZ Hospitality

Day 2 of crashing in my old Contiki friend's living room.... Jamie, the kind/foolish guy that he is let me drive his car on the way to the supermarket and I'm proud to say that he made it five minutes before he grabbed the suicide handles... It's amazing how unnerving it is driving on the opposite side of the road when everything you've known in the last 23 years is flipped... It's like going against nature when you drive on the left side of the road, you're always having to consciously think "Left, left, left" but strangely, the hardest part of driving on this side of the road is remembering that the blinkers and windshield wipers are reversed... Let's just say his windshield was VERY clean by the time I had parked the car. Jodie drove home and I hate to admit that she made it seem so much easier than it really is.

After dinner Jamie's 3 friends came over and we had a great night just playing games... Initially, they were intended to be drinking games but since half of us don't drink and the other half are quite light drinkers the guys did most of the drinking and taught us some new games... We played a game that is sure to become one of our favorites and one that will continue with us in our travels. Let's call it, "G'Day Jase".... Basically everyone starts out as Jase and each time you mess up you get a new name and new voice... After Jase, you become Kylie and you develop a high pitched voice. After Kylie is Bouncer, with whom you must have a deep voice.. And so on.. The last one is Squiggles, and when you're squiggles you are just allowed to kinda "motor-boat" your lips and so your head movements are very key... haha... It sounds like a mess but it was such a riot... Check out the video to show the four guys play a round...

Initially we had plans to leave Wellington tomorrow morning but we are now thinking we might leave Sunday... Two of Jamie's friends we met last night are professional sports players here in Wellington; one a rugby player, one a cricket player. All the boys swore that part of experiencing NZ is going to a cricket game and a rugby game and both guys have a game on Saturday.... How could we pass up such an opportunity to experience two of the national pastimes????

Luv, V

Things we've learned about New Zealand thus far...

1)The toilets really DO flush the opposite way (we know this thanks to a volunteer back home and the wonder of skype)

2) Ozzies and Kiwis do not like to mistaken for each other... the only way I've been able to determine the difference is when they say "6"... sooo when in doubt just ask them what 9-3 is...

3) Look both ways when crossing the street has never been such a necessity than here

4) This is the youngest country is the world (I wanna say they had their first dominion day in 1907)

5) Kiwis are ridiculously nice

6) I will never ever complain about the price of mascara again after being here.... $32 for normal drugstore mascara? ick...

7) Central Wellington is on a major fault line and has many other fault lines all around... This is the best chance I will prob ever have to experience an earthquake... Part of Wellington is actually "New" land that was under water until 300 yrs ago and a massive earthquake brought it up..

8) Just because you here it's summer over here do not assume it can't get cold... First night we arrived we were freezin!!!! Luckily Jamie, our kind host, provided us with blankets, mattresses, and a space heater! Cheers to the wonders of central heating back home..

9) To all you calorie counters... Good luck in NZ... They use Kilo-joules not calories over here... For someone from a supposed metric country I have no beginning of an idea of what a kilo-joule is....

10) There are no sharks, snakes or spiders.... Why are we going to Australia again???

11) We are already in love with NZ and we've only seen Wellington!

Luv, V

So we have been in Wellington, NZ for two days and I really love this city. It has such a great a city and it is windy like Lethbridge so it kinda feels like home (if that is possible). It really is a beautiful city and the guy we are staying with Jaime, is so nice...he gave us his mattresses and car keys and took us for a tour of the city last night!

We went to the botanical gardens today and then got lost trying to find the bus back to Jaime's house! It wasn't as cold today and we finally got to see the sun...which was glorious! We are just contemplating what to do for supper...but we are so much warmer today! It is a real blessing being together because we giggle too much (except for Jodie which we have realized she smiles and chuckles...no giggling!) and don't get frustrated with getting lost and that is a plus since I am sure we will have a lot of lost adventures ahead of us!

Hey so we leave on October 24th for LA then leave the North America October 25th...it's crazy how fast this change is coming and we are trying to plan and get things in order and enjoy what little time we have left with all who we love!