Queenstown (part deux)

Hello!!

I'm still in Queenstown with Leslie and just wanted to update you a bit on what I've been up to and what my plans are.

We did go bungy jumping the other day off the Kawarau bridge!! It was awesome. Leslie and I actually did a tandem (sp?) jump so she more jumped and pushed me off with her. ;-) It was awesome and the guy at the top who strapped the cord on had a good point. I told him I was from Colorado and he said that skiing was a lot more dangerous than bungy jumping. True. Anyway, it was quite thrill. They even ask if you want to be dunked in the river. Leslie wanted to go waist deep and I did not so we compromised and just got our heads wet. It was super awesome and now I really want to do the nevis jump. It's three times the height and apparently you fall for 8 seconds on that one. Yikes. But awesome. Anyway, I've got pictures from the jump but their just prints so I'll have to show you all when I get back!

Yesterday we went up and skiied Remarks. It's the ski area on "The Remarkables." A good name for what are the most impressive mountains I've ever seen this close to sea level. Leslie and I went with the head chef from the hotel she used to work at. Ski areas here are so different from Colorado. No trees for one, but also the layout is just different. We took a lift up and then hiked for about 1/2 an hour and skiied down the back side of the mountain. I definitely was moaning and groaning on the way up, but it was so beautiful when we got up there I totally forgot about my pain and the way down wasn't too trecherous at all. Lots of powder. On the other side of the area there were terrain parks and oh my god you would never believe how good people are here. And it's not just a few people either. Everyone is so hard core. It's kind of the spirit of Queenstown tho. Play hard. I think I'm getting old tho because I can't quite handle going up skiing every day and drinking every night. And people here work on top of that. It's nuts.

I think Leslie and Mary (her roommate) and I are going to make a bit of a roadtrip to Christchurch on Friday. Turns out Mary has some friends there she wants to see and the timing works out well since Leslie leaves the following Tuesday. So we'll be heading up there and I will just stay with Emily for a bit while I decide what to do next. Christchurch is supposed to be apallingly boring so I'm not sure how long I'll stay, but I might try to find some work there for a bit to try and save some money for more traveling. Also, I've been thinking more about doing the WWOOF thing. Willing Workers On Organic Farms. It's where you go and live with a host family and basically learn organic farming practices and help out. You get free accomodation and food in exchange for your help so it's a good way to save money and also sounds pretty interesting. I also definitely want to check out Wellington sometime soon.

So we'll see where this crazy road takes me!! I miss you all like crazy.

Love, Laura