Oh Sunny Days

Yeah not really. The first few days in Sydney were actually quite nice. But yeah, the past few have been excessively wet and rainy.
Day 1: I arrived and Martha met me at the airport. We took a bus into the city. I got to see where she lived, and we went exploring. Walked around UNSW campus and I met like two dozen people who Martha is either friends with or worked/studied with while she has been in Oz. Walked down to Coogee beach and wrote a happy fathers day message in the sand for our dad (Happy Dad Day again dad). Did a little bit of grocery shopping and made Yael and Andy dinner. Early night to bed (8:30pm) since I had been up for getting close to 20hours. Then the day of why both Martha and I were in Sydney arrived. GRADUATION DAY! It was a great day. People *coughJohnElhamcough* thought it was a cold day, but I thought it was awesome. Met like another 2-3 dozen of Martha's friends and got the giggles in the middle of the ceremony. Oh funny names. It was a good day though, and lots more proper laughs followed. Australia played Iraq in the qualifiers for the Men's FIFA World Cup, and won in the last minutes of the game. So everyone was super stoked about the grad and the win.
And the excitement and fun just continued throughout the rest of the week.
Zoo day! Martha, Yael, Tom, Anna, and John showed me around and got to see a few new things there. We went to the Tasmanian devil feeding which was cool. While at the feeding we learned that the tassie devil is quickly dying off due to a really rare cancer. They have started a breeding program to make sure they have a good gene pool to draw from to continue the existence of the tassie and also to help find a way to make a cure. Currently the cancer is 100% fatal. We also went to the bird show which was probably the most amazing thing about the zoo trip. The abilities and training that they have nurtured and developed was spectacular. We also saw the seal show which was more informative and less tricks but still very neat. And to top it off, while we walked past the male elephant section, the keepers were playing with the one elephant. It was setting up a soccer ball and kicking it, and drop kicking a rugby ball. It was a very awe inspiring day, but also very sombering. To think that human's have destroyed so much nature that some animals only know the life of a cage since there are so few left, let's just say by the end of the day I was feeling very reflective. After the zoo, they introduced me to a hot chocolate place that I doubt could be equaled anywhere other than maybe somewhere in Europe. Max Brenners. Yael, Martha, and I have decided that Max Brenners should replace Starbucks in Canada, and Tim Hortons should replace Starbucks in Australia. It is an out of this world choco experience. After the amazing drink you would think the rest of the trip would be a flop right?
Wrong!
Art museum. Very randomly set up, but super interesting pieces. And I of course pulled a blonde moment. We were looking at some china from China that is like 600 years old, and I thought "Wow, these are really beautiful, they should be in a museum" which made me start laughing to myself, since right after thinking that I was like "Um, they are." Martha asked what was so funny, so I told her and we both had a good laugh at my moment. That day was also Martha's birthday! So dinner out with a bunch of her friends and a really good dumpling place, and a cake/roll thing that Yael and I made back at their house. Friday was our "down day". Which saw us eat lunch with more new people for me, and then we headed over to the family that Martha used to babysit/house sit for. Then back home to have another yummy dinner of kangaroo, which I have now had basically everyday being here. Saturday was another exciting day. I went swimming for the first time in the ocean at Clovelly. John, Martha and I then walked in the rain to Bondi beach. It was a wet day, and when I had my warm shower after walking around for 5 hours my hands felt like they were burning. Guess it was colder than I wanted to admit, at least the air was, the water was warmish. That night I got to meet a couple girls from Martha's soccer team. Very nice people. And the third Alex I have met on this trip. We had some good Chinese food, and then probably the coolest desert ever. Liquid nitrogen gelato! I had the strawberry blonde geisha (green tea gelato with flirty strawberry bits - their description), Martha got the we are the champions (maple and smoked bacon), Nat got popcorn, and Alex got dark chocolate and sea salt. We have come to the conclusion that mine was the best, and Martha's was overpowered by the bacon.
SUNDAY! Started with an awesome pancake brekkie made by Yael, and the maple syrup provided by our neighbours in Waterloo. Then off to a Persian wedding luncheon for Elham and Iman. Elham looked beautiful, but we had to dash. After a half hour with them, we hopped on to the bus and headed for the Sydney Opera House to see Peter and the wolf performed by the symphony featuring the Aussie icon Dame Edna. It was great music and a funny performance by the Dame. After that we hopped onto another bus, and headed to Maroubra junction to get our GoT on. Alex (another Alex) and Sarah had us over to meet their little Henry, and play Game of Thrones the board game. I chose to play as the Strak's and kept saying 'Winter is coming'. It was a lot of fun. Martha won. But it was fun. John showed up for dessert and gave us a ride home. I have found that all of Martha's friends are super nice.
Last day! Yael, Martha and I went out to Maroubra beach - also known in local terminology as the bra - where we watched surfers do their thing, while enjoying a simple but good breakfast. Came back, started writing this blog, then left to grab a cuppa at Max Brenners with soccer girls. Alex and Ro, very cool people and yummy hot chocolate. Came back home again, packed, and now the blog is updated!
"Don't shoot! Seriously, I don't even like working here. They are so weird!"- Mandarin guard 'Iron Man 3'

I'm Back!

I have been given instructions from a very important person that my blog was in need of an update, so here it goes.
I am back in Christchurch right now, but this time I am not ill! So the visit has already started on the right foot. I am staying with the same fabulous family from my last visit and yes Mom I am trying to help around the house with little things like dishes and folding laundry. p.s. Mom the kids love the shirts :)
I just reread my last post, so the following little tales should all be new.
Queenstown - it was definitely a lifestyle change from Kinloch. Since it is a tourist town everything is expensive, and extreme, so in my down time I was quite boring. I read a lot, and hung out with a few friends I made. I went to some meditation nights, and watched saw some movies. 'Star Trek' I went to the midnight opening showing of, and by golly was it good. Also saw 'Idenity Theif' which was okay, and 'Iron Man 3' which I absolutely loved. Pepper Potts kicked some ass, and a woman kicking ass is always a plus in my books. So that was Queenstown in a nut shell. Well, okay, not quite. Fat Badgers and World Bar went up in flames. I had a cold at the time so had spent the day in bed, and didn't know about it until my friend Holly texted me if I was okay. And if anyone is confused, Fat Badgers was a pizza place below World Bar and is where the fire started which caused them both to go up in smoke. My stay in Queenstown last 5 weeks, and then I moved back out into the middle of nowhere.
Glenorchy/Kinloch - Next on the list of "What to Do" was working on a farm between Glenorchy and Kinloch. I don't actually know which town/village it falls into, but does it really matter when you are travelling to make these small little definitions? nope. So I worked on a cow farm for Al's friend Thomas. It was different once again to either of the other jobs. The first day I was there it was time for the cows to be scanned. Now this isn't a dairy farm, it's a beef farm with a lot of female cows who need to get preggers so the calfs can be sold. So scanning the cows was to check if they were preggers or not. And most were. I think only a handful or so weren't, and thats out of nearly 300 cows, so good job bulls lol. I also painted a hallway and a mudroom while I was there. Helped feed the chucks and cows, and clean out the chuck houses. Planted the spring bulbs, and helped sort out some stuff from a spare room and the garage. I really enjoyed it. Thomas and Karen also had a dog, which I love! Her name is Xena and she is a mouse killer, not quite as cool as a warrior princess, but still a very cool dog. I left the farm this past Tuesday, and rejoined Stray Bus. Once again I had another driver. This time it was Spoons. He was covering for another driver who had hurt their arm, so he didn't have a mic to talk to us about the places we passed. But it was okay. Most of us just slept on the bus. So I saw Mt. Cook again. This time I went for a walk and got back before it was dark. Others had gone on a longer walk, and ended up having to use their cell phones and one persons flash light to make their ways back. The next day we went to Lake Tekapo where a bunch of us went ice skating. It was a lot of fun, and I realised two things; 1-I need to get my skates at home sharpened, and 2-I skate like how people ski lol. That night we stayed in Rangitata, and watched some episodes of 'Flight of the Concords' and then since most of us had never seen it, Spoons had us watch 'Top Gun' which yes has a great soundtrack, but no is not that great of a movie. Now I am in Christchurch, and just relaxing for a few days before my next big adventure. I am on my way to Oz...do I follow the yellow brick road?
"Glad to meet you kid, you're a real horses ass."- Henry Gondorf 'The Sting'