In technicolor! Laura

It's true! We have found a computer that has given itself to us free of charge and with no further adieu we bring you New Zealand! To begin, the colors are incredible...maybe it is the hole in the ozone, but I have never seen greens so green and blues so blue. This became very evident when we were on the Bax Family dairy farm (the setting for the Shire in Lord of the Rings...I really will try to stop the references)
view from the Baxes' backyard

with the wonderful Bax Family eating pumpkin pie on it's New Zealand debut

Katy the farm hand


Mount Doom looming over an other-worldly/post-apocalyptic landscape


The Emerald Lakes at the Alpine Crossing in Tongariro National Park

Jess in the clouds, literally, scrambling down a summit

Hydrangeas are no exception in New Zealand, the biggest and most brilliant colors...ever!

Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel, it was decent, whatever...

milestones galore! Laura

Warning: the following passage may contain egregious spelling and punctuation errors due to using a keyboard slightly larger than my thumb which is all a result of the lacking free internet access, emphasis on free, in new zealand


Today is marked as a momentous day for various reasons and I will begin with the most apparent...we have a new president! Which leads us to our second milestone, we woke up at 515 in the morning today. Serendipitously we were near a TV just in time to see obama sworn in with jumbled words and all(the nerves were endearing!), as you
may presume, we were
not awake at that hour in order to pay our patriotic duties, but because we were on our way to one of our least-anticipated yet continually most memorable (for better or worse) activities - trekking! Which will be referred to as 'tramping' while in new zealand to refer to one of the most popular activities for its countrymen - it's not just for you granola-eating, subaru
-driving,tree-huggers up in Vermont down here in new zealand. Oh, I jest! In reality, despite how I try to hide it, I have become the greatest proponent of general outdoorsiness in the group. So as today is our ONE HUNDRETH day of travel (yet another milestone to add to your list) and we are in the land of 'great walks' (and lord of the rings), we planned a tramp of EPIC proportions in which one Laura Fox and Jessica Caimi set out at 8 am to conquer or succumb to new zealand's greatest day walk (rest assured that the term 'walk' is used very lightly
here) in which we were to face craters, summits, emerald lakes, and sulfur fields aka mount DOOM, the land of the orgs, etc, all of which are sights in lord of the rings that were shot there - we were hopeful that the similarities would end there and we would fair better than Frodo and Sam :\
(apologies for the unabashed lord of the rings references as I just saw not only the first film but all three last week for the first time)

While seeing some truly other worldly landscapes on the tongaruro alpine crossing, Jess was able to recreate various scenes from the film while I tried in vain to deny my new identity as an outdoorsy person. I suppose while on the walk there were two more milestones - first, we decided that five or six hours is our physical and mental limit for a day hike especially considering that we were not the most professionally outfitted group with my 'streetwear' adidas and all. Too bad the walk took us seven hours...which not only led us to fits of delerious laughter and hobbling on feet that had tried to run away from our bodies hours earlier, but also to the completion of our longest trek/tramp to date! The length was allegedly 18 and a half kilometers but man oh man that last half kilo went on long enough for Jess to contemplate setting up shop in the bush while also talking to herself (first sign of legit delirium, I have recently learned). Thankfully the third member of our party, miss Katy Jane, who had pased on the hike, was waiting at the end of the path ready to mother our rather tired selves.

I have a few photos on my phone from today - not only do they not do the land justice, but I am just not that patient to figure out how to add them now, so I implore you to look up the park online. At the close of this most memorable day, I would like to thank all of you for your support and positive thoughts throughout our first one hundred days and we will in turn send our support and positive thoughts to the states on this the first of, hopefully, many proud days for our country, good deal?

i've traded vogue for gum boots

Hello hello all and welcome to this edition of Jessica out of her element! This episode features a tent and cows!!!

Actually, all joking aside, I have to say that the girls and I have been having an absolutely fabulous time here in new zealand. We arrived new years eve in auckland, and after a good nap, met some other travelers from France and Spain and we all decided to go down to the viaduct area together where we could see fireworks go off at midnight, and experience the great local tradition - the pub! We had a very fun night, which included cutting a line and getting into a dance club for free where we proceeded to dance the new year away. A perfect way to start my year.

The next day was filled with logistics and planning because a) we had decided that staying at hostels was a but too harsh on our budgets because of expensive kiwi prices and b) we decided to take another swing at WWOOFing but had to plan when and where to volunteer ourselves.

After being invited to stay for a week on a dairy farm in Cambridge, we decided to attack the budget problem by investigating camping equipment. Yes, your eyes do not decieve you, I agreed to give camping a try. The decision was made a bit easier when a tent was given to us by the universe. When asking about buying cheap gear at our hostel front desk, the woman behind the counter said, "well, you can have this one here for free if you want it. Someone left it behind." The girls and I eagerly unfolded the tent to find a perfectly functioning tent, plus waterproof rainfly ... for only two people. Well, at least we will be cosy at night, which was a worry on our minds because we had nothing but silk sleepsacks to sleep in. We bought some inflatable mattresses to put on the ground, but searched in vain for blankets. It was Laura Fox who, while exploring an outdoor store, first suggested the idea of using emergency blankets. For those who don't know, emergency blankets are glorified pieces of tin foil that are thrown over marathon runners after they finish racing. I had only seen them before at the finish line of the Boston marathon.

So, armed and "ready" for camping we set off to Waiheke island for the weekend. The island was beautiful and complete with white sand beaches, wineries, and friendly locals. We spent a great day on rented bikes, exploring the island (an excellent suggestion from a friend at home!)Camping went as well as could be hoped. The first night was miserable. It rained and we were all wet and cold. The next night I wore 75% of the clothes in my backpack, and at least managed to stay warm. I can't load any pictures right now, but there are good ones of my poor footsies sticking out of the wee tent, and Katy and I wrapped in the emergency blankets. But, waiheke was fun and gorgeous and we were excited to head back to the mainland to start WWOOFing.

For the past week, we have been staying with one of the happiest, most thoughtful and generous family I have ever known. Compared to staying on the Hare Krisna farm, staying with the Bax family is like going on a fun family vacation. Highlights include riding on the backs of tractors, going kayaking at night to see glowworms, and riding horses. There has also been some hard work and we hope that Phil and Tracy and the entire Bax family has been satisfied with our work. Again, there are some really priceless pictures that go with this story - us wearing farming clothes, us with cows (did I mention we were on a dairy farm!?), us pulling on our intense gum boots in the morning, and also some really incredible pictures of new zealand landscape.
Today was a day of rest spent making feta cheese and watching the Lord of the Rings movies, which were all shot in new zealand! Tomorrow is our last day with the Bax family, and then we are off to pick up a rental car, and then we are letting the wind decide where to lead is next.

We hope all is well at home, and send lots of love to everyone!

Love and baci, Jca

For Marcus - me 77 world 13 xoxo