bungy, beachin, booyahhh

I have a love/hate relationship with blogging. These last four days we haven't had internet (curse NZ system of internet) because we ran out of gigabytes. Which I guess is embarrassing on our part because it means we used too much. BUT in my defense, I do a lot of homework online. So it's not all because of facebook, blog stalking, and g chatting :)

NEWAYZ, we haven't had internet and now I feel like I'm drowning because I have a million "should've already posted" blog posts hanging over my head.

Also, sidenote. I know these pictures are the biggest things in the world. but that's what happens when you copy/paste from facebook. which really actually saves a lot of time because I hate blogger uploader because it takes a million years.

To begin with. I jumped off a 130 foot bridge and crashed into the water. Good thing I had a bungy cord wrapped around my feet :)

I feel like this should make a really great story, but it's actually pretty simple.

We climbed to the top of the bridge, I waited my turn, walked the plank, and fell off. I was more nervous the night before than for the real thing. I kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking about standing at the edge of a bridge. BUT once I was up there I was just stoked out of my mind because Justin Bieber AND David Beckam both jumped off the same bridge - booyahh!

I was told if I fell straight off and didn't jump outward, then I would have a possibility of touching the water. True that! My whole body went in! Must be all that ice cream I'm eating. It was very unexpected and my eyes/mouth were still open. "Ah my mouth was open and everythin!" (name that movie). I have a bruised eyelid from two blood vessels popping. . .while that was slightly uncomfortable, the rest of the experience was

thebestthinghtateverhappenedtome!!!!!

After bungy jumping we took a ferry from Auckland to Waiheke Island which is equivalent to paradise. As all NZ beaches are.

The following day (Saturday) was a trip to Piha beach and a hike to Cascade Falls. One of the staff members at Henderson Primary offered to take us, and we went with her and her sons. She is an angel and it was a great weekend outing :)

 

Following was the Pasifika Festival. A festival of cultures which included music, dancing, and most importantly. . .food :) I left my comfort zone and ate pancakes - very exotic and culture-y food.

This coming weekend we have no set plans. . . which is actually great. Because that means we can do whatever we want. Which means we will be hittin up the beach and laying in the sun. And running around Auckland, sleeping in, and eating lots and lots of food. hmmmyes. Thank goodness it's Thursday :)

what i've been diggin

Here are some songs I've been recently diggin. . .

White Blank Page - Mumford & Sons

Shark in the Water - V.V. Brown

We Found Love (Cover) - Coldplay

whanga what? whangarei!!

and yet another three day weekend excursion!!!

this time our trip was to Whangarei, which is pronounced "fun-ga-ray". Weird I know. The "wh" makes an "f" sound here. Needless to say, it was jam-packed and fun-filled (hyphens?).

Friday we drove in the vans to the Amu's house - James Amu has been our tour guide for the last couple weeks and let us crash at his place for the weekend. They have this gorgeous property with a house that I hope to someday inherit. However, since I am not related to them, I don't see that happening in real life. We rough and toughed it in the backyard and slept in tents. One of the more comfortable camping experiences of my life. We had mattresses and lots and lot of blankets :) Half the time I was scared our tent would collapse in the nightly tropical rainstorms, but we survived to see the morning and hear the rooster crow (literally).

In the afternoon we took a trip to a farm to milk some of dem cows! This was honestly one of the best parts of the weekend. Claire - now I know why you love cows! They are weirdly cute and very smart. Or just so dumb that they are brainwashed.

this man featured below is Sid Going (look him up!) One of the most famous rugby players of all time. I guess it's only natural to retire from rugby and move to a farm. . .

Here is what happens on a dairy farm . . .

A bell rings and the cows move from this paddock into a line. They go through the line and walk onto a moving milk carousel. The cows just pop right into the stalls as the thing spins around! Then the farmer hooks up a milking machine, they ride around, and when they get back to the beginning they BACK UP OUT OF THE STALL. I was honestly flabbergasted. dumbfounded. amazed!!! I tried to explain it in this video. . .but for some reason I was whispering. Probably because I was in awe. I know videos are annoying to watch, but really. This one is worth your time.

We asked the farmer if we could help "milk the cows". I was feeling bold and he let me hook the machine up to the udders. One of the more frightening/hilarious things I've done in my life. The cows are moving around the circle on the machine and you have to hook up the udder to suction cups while walking beside it. I was lucky enough to get pooped on!!! yayyy. The ONE moment I was helping the cow out, it decided to go.

Luckily they were able to hose me down since I was covered in cow yuck

Enough about those amazing mammal quadrupeds. . . moving onward! Friday night we had a BBQ in the backyard and the YSA from the area came. We partied, played volleyball, and danced. They are way good dancers! They taught me how to shuffle, dougie, and "do the skank" (it's a NZ dance that isn't actually skanky).

ruined this candid shot!

Saturday we woke up and went boating!! on the ocean!!! and it was freezing! but so worth it. Mallory and I rocked the banana boat and it rocked us. I have developed a new appreciation for Ashton Kutcher and the Coast Guard. I know he isn't actually in the Coast Guard. . .but that's all I could think of! Ashton in the Guardian battling waves and overcoming a salt water in the mouth in order to save lives. Props to those people!

In the afternoon we went surfing. FUR REALZ. It wasn't the lame surfing I did earlier where I would crash and burn every five seconds, because I actually got up! Heaps of times! There was still a lot of crashing and burning, even some collisions (brooke!) . . . but totally worth it. We had surfing instructors that helped us out and we got to wear some really attractive bright yellow shirts.

a little wobbly. . .

done and done :)

Saturday night we finished up the party by totally stuffing our faces with sweets and desserts and singing some karaoke. I belted some Michael Jackson and we also had some other greats from Titianic, Grease, and ABBA.

Kirsten and I tried some ballet moves.

We weren't strong enough so Margs helped out

Sunday was great because it was Sunday :) We were asked impromptu to sing some prelude music. The ward loved it surprisingly! There was a least 3 people who bore their testimonies about how they love everyone and they love America. My favorite was an old woman who talked forever about how she loves America. . . "I saw no bad peoples. I thought I would see bad peoples, but I didn't see one. Not even in Vegas. People said to watch out, but I just love all Americans." Bless her heart :)

After church I think I played bananagrams for literally 3 hours. It is my new obsession. Forget scrabble! I was particularly proud of my bananagram set up that included "velcros", "torture", "equate", and "smattering." After playing, we created this little gem :)

Still feel like I am catching up on sleep - but who cares! I only have about a month left and I feel like I'm running out of time! Next on the agenda for this weekend is. . .

bungy jumping

ferry ride to a volcano

shopping

trip to Piha beach

and the Pasifika Festival!

go team!