So I guess I've been busy!?

So much for blogging regularly, oh well. I guess I had more pressing things on my plate. But it is Christmas break and I am getting all pumped up for my trip across the pond that I leave for in only 10 days! I can't believe it came up so quickly. My first semester of my junior year just flew by, as the rest of my college career has so far, it's scary that I'm more than half way done! I guess I need to nail down a game plan for when I finish my undergrad....EEK!

Anyway, just got done celebrating Christmas, which was wonderful as usual! We normally have a pretty low key holiday with our family that is in Cedar Rapids. The weather was not very christmas-y as it was raining a lot of christmas eve, but it's basically a winter wonderland now, so it may be another day before I can go see my horse and give her her christmas presents-my uncle got me a 20 pound bag of horse treats, which I'm sure she'll mooch out of her caretakers while I am gone (not that she wouldn't succeed in getting them out of me either, she knows how cute she is and uses it to get what she wants-TREATS! she may be a little spoiled haha)

On another note, my last two shows of the summmer were great (as I said I would update-more for my memory than anything else, it just seems a little late in the game). I moved Julia up to training level at Catalpa Corners in Iowa City, and she was great. It was her first training, though not mine. We had a pretty good dressage test for about a 38, not bad for her first training. Clear jumping cross country with some time faults, she was SO good, it was a little sticky in places getting used to the harder questions asked on that level but we had schooled a lot so she was definitely ready. She launched into the water jump over the drop, I think she much prefers the drop into water than just running in, it's as though she says "HOLD ON MOM.....CANNONBALL!!!!!"-she thinks it's much more fun, although I wouldn't mind if she was a bit less exuberant, although that is much preferable to her not liking water. Anyway, she had a decent stadium-a little sticky, I think she was suprised with the height change and I could've ridden her better (that is the main factor, she's got jump to spare) but I was a bit nervous, but overall 2 rails wasn't bad and we figured out a new tack/bit combination for her next show and saw a big improvement in her stadium there. Anyway we ended up in 8th place-I was thrilled to get a ribbon in our first show at that level.

We did another training level at Wayne Dupage, and had an improved dressage which I was really happy with-a 34.5 I think. Then we had a wonderful cross country. I don't know why but sometimes I get so nervous before XC, even though I love it so much. But that ride definitely reminded me of why I love my sport as much as I do. It was a decently challenging course for training and Julia was SO game, we had one or 2 awkward fences but overall it rode S

O great, especially any combinations or big fences she was just a rockstar to, the ones we had weird striding to or whatever weren't anything to worry about, it was more that we were both getting used to moving at a little faster pace and we both came off the course feeling positive and I was thrilled with her. I had a huge grin on my face as I signaled to Cindy (my trainer) that I'd had a clear round-we just were a few seconds slow which I could care less about because she is new to the level and I knew the 2 spots where I'd lost a few seconds so really I knew that we had been going at a true training speed. Stadium day was interesting-our division was approximated to go at about 2:30, really quite late for where we normally are. So the upper levels went in the morning, had lovely sunny weather. Well about noon dark clouds started rolling in and the skies opened up and it started to pour rain. When Hannah and I were getting Lyn and Julia tacked up it started to clear off a little, but of course as soon as I got in my saddle it poured even harder. We went up to the ring (they won't call it unless it's raining or really really bad) and started warming up, which was going great. Right before our division starts it starts to thunder and lightning, so our entire division rides across the huge warm up ring at Lamplight into some empty temporary stabling to get ourselves and our horses out of the storm. We stood there for about an hour and finally the thunder had quit for long enough for them to tell us to get back on. They told us to just come in as we felt warmed up since

we all had to get back on and get our horses moving and jumping again. Hannah and I were 2 of the first few in. I had a much much smoother round on a pretty big course (I have no idea why, but the jumps always look so huge at wayne, even though I know they can't be any bigger than max...must be the atmosphere). I think I had one or two rails but with all the confusion they counted me as a double clear (the rails were easily fixable, the first fence we just got weird striding to-she's still green, and the second was to a double that we would have either had to take off really long and had trouble with the second fence or take the first rail, but that is not a big deal at all). So we ended up 4th (we should've been 7th) which I didn't realize because someone else picked up my ribbon because it was raining they didn't do a victory gallop. So, I emailed the organizer telling her of the mix up but it never got switched-but I did all I could and I'm sure it's not the first time that's happened so I guess I'll just take the white ribbon, haha.

XC at Wayne Dupage-all pictures by Derith Vogt (thanks!)

Stadium at Wayne Dupage-my pants are about 2 shades darker because of the rain-my trailer smelled like a swamp for weeks!

I couldn't have been more pleased with my horse this year, she really stepped up to the plate and grew up a lot. It's not every horse that can move up to training in their first real year of competing. I am so proud of Julia-it makes it ten times better since I've been her trainer (with from the ground help from Cindy every now and then to make sure I'm teaching her right) and basically the only one to ride her since she was only a little ways into her basic training. I definitely had tears in my eyes on more than one occasion because she is just so great. She's beautiful, a great mover, athletic, smart, and just a peach! (I know I say that stuff a lot-but I can't help it, I'm a proud mom haha). I am so excited for the future with this horse, I think she's going to be something special-she certainly is to me already. I am so thankful for the support my parents and also of my trainer, Cindy Burke, and all of the KSS eventing team. It wouldn't be possible or nearly as fun without them!

Anyway-now that that was about 4 months ago I'm glad to have that part of the blog finished. This semester went really well, I enjoyed most of my classes, worked hard, but managed to have some fun too! I am very excited to go to England and will definitely keep this updated every few days while I'm there!!

Merry Christmas!

So much for keeping updated

Well so far my first semester of my junior year has kept me busy!!! Classes are going really well, hoping for a great GPA this semester!!! Flamingo Ball-the dance my roommate/co-chair organized went absolutely better than we could've asked for! (Look for a picture at the bottom-my dress was so fun!). I'm getting all set to go to England on January 5th!!! I'll be gone for 3 weeks! I am loving the Iowa Hawkeye football team...9-0 baby!!! I got to go the the game this past saturday with my family which was wonderful (well the first 3/4 were kinda frustrating, but they sure made up for it in the end).

My horse is doing just fine-she was acting up for a few weeks before fall break, and since none of that is in her nature at all I had our chiropractor (who is also a vet-they have to be) adjust her and do acupuncture and sure enough she was very tight and out of alignment. A lot of people kind of think I'm crazy for doing that, but it has made a complete difference in her, as soon as I rode her after that I had my horse's lovely attitude back and her gaits actually felt even better than before, so this is something I think she's going to definitely benefit from. It is so worth it because for those few weeks that she must have been hurting we were having frustrating and unproductive rides and I was really worried about her, I am SO glad she's feeling better and we can keep working towards our goals for next year, which are being set pretty high-I have faith in my horse and myself!

Anyway-to continue my posts about last show season after Otter Creek....

After Otter we headed to Catalpa Corners in Iowa City (so nice to have one close to home) for a 1 day schooling show, which went great! We had a pretty nice dressage test, about a 38-we still needed to really work on picking her up into a higher frame and getting her off of her forehand. We had another double clear stadium round, which was much quieter and less "leapy" than Otter, then ran a great double clear XC, good enough for 4th place in a division of at least 10, not bad for her 3rd show ever!

After that schooling show we headed to Fox River Valley PC horse trials in Barrington, Illinois. We were again entered in a Novice Horse division-an appropriate place for her to be because it designates that the horse is not experienced above the novice level, even though the ride may be (which I am, I'm not eligible to ride in the Novice Rider divisions). The only downside to these divisions is that a lot of times those divisions are full of professionals on young horses. A few times this year I just wished I had entered the open novice divisions because there were so many fewer horse/rider combinations in them, and we would've placed great, but it doesn't really matter because it's all still education for her at this point, I'm just building my partner for the future! Anyway-at Fox River Valley we had a wonderful dressage test!!! We had been really working on lifting Julia up into a more "grown up horse" frame, and getting her balanced onto her hind end. The results paid off with a dressage score that was 8 points better than our last one, good enough for a 30.5 (my best dressage score EVER!), which put us in 3rd place, within about a point of the leader. The scores were SOO tight! We had a wonderful double clear XC, she was brave and bold, but really paid attention-she LOVES her cross country! On Sunday we had yet another double clear stadium round-which I hoped would move us up, but of course, the first and second place people had great XC and Stadium too, so we kept our third place spot and earned a pretty yellow ribbon. I was absolutely THRILLED!!! It was a tough division and my little mare proved that we can run with the big boys!!!

Maui Jim was pretty successful too. We had a 34.8ish dressage, it was a little tense as the atmosphere at Lamplight Equestrian Center (in Wayne, IL) is quite electric in the HUGE arena, much different than any venue Julia had been too, so she was a little nervous, but handled it well! The scoring there is notoriously tougher too, so I was happy with my score. We were sitting about in the middle of the pack, in another tough Novice Horse division, really full of pros. For XC, I was about last in our division, and part way through XC it started POURING rain! (And i'm not exaggerating, I will attach a picture where you can see the rain on the water complex). Because the rain hadn't soaked in yet I knew the footing would be quite slick. Rather than risk my horse and my well being I decided to take the course nice and slow because I didn't know how Julia would handle the mud. We came out of it with some time faults, but a positive clear jumping round. My mare handled the mud great, she was very careful and cat-like! But the time faults moved us down a little bit (I didn't care at all, we were home safe and sound after XC and that's always my first priority, to have fun and be safe). We had one rail in stadium but overall a smooth and forward round. It was our last novice we would run until our first training at catalpa.

A few days after Maui Jim, Hannah, Grace, Lizzie H. and I (along with Ruth who stayed in chicago) were to go to Area IV Young Rider camp back at lamplight (weird, we felt like we had just been there...). Unfortunately Grace had a freak horse accident and was left with a pretty badly broken ankle (of course I was the only one there and we were both on horses, but I handled it well and we got help and everything was taken care of)....poor girl she was SOOO looking forward to camp and the rest of the season. But I am pleased to say she's back on a horse, though lightly still, and has healed up great and will be back at it strong next spring. But Lizzie H. Han and I went to camp to ride with Jon Holling, Allison Springer, and Richard Lamb (who I hadn't heard of but he was a good guy). I had lessons with both Richard and Jon, which went really well, especially XC with Jon-he was quite impressed with Julia and said that I had improved a lot since he saw me last year with Emily. From there, I sent my horse back home with Lizzie and Ruth, and Hannah and I headed (with super-mare Fantasia in tow) to the North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) with the rest of the Area IV young rider team. I got to groom for Hannah and Fan and got many compliments on my grooming skills (thanks KSS team, we've been taught well!) We were at the Kentucky Horse Park for a week to compete, and while the teams didn't finish as well as we had hoped, it was an absolute blast getting to know all the team members and being a part of what is essentially the Junior Olympics! SOOOO Much fun- I can't wait to groom again next year, I'll age out next year though, SAD, I'll make the best of my last year though! Unfortunately I aged out of the 1* level, and don't have the experience yet to do the 2* team, but I am happy to groom and I can't wait for next year!

Anyway-I'll blog again about my last two shows of the year at a later date. It's time for a shower and bed before 8AM Microbiology!!!

Let me know if there is anyone reading this!!!

Oh yeah, pictures!!!

My Co-chair and I (on the ends) with a bunch of friends/committe members at flamingo ball!

Julia and I on our thursday night dressage practice ride at Otter Creek

XC at Maui Jim-Please note the massive quantities of rain drops on the water! It was CRAZY! We were SOAKED!!!!!!

Resurrection of the blog!

I have decided to start blogging again, and have therefore resurrected the blog from my amazing J-Term trip and turned it into a general blog about what's going on with me (in case anyone is curious, if not I guess it will just be a way for me to record things in my life).

Anyway, much has happened since my last blog post. I returned from my trip with absolutely fabulous memories. While it was not an academically challenging course, it definitely pushed me in other ways, both with physical challenges and mental barriers that I overcame. I felt like I really grew and found a love for travel and adventure that I had not embraced as much as I do now. My group was so sad to leave (especially since we were leaving 90 degree temperatures on the Australian beaches to come back to sub-zero midwest winters!) and I certainly wouldn't have minded staying a bit longer and seeing more of Australia, but I was definitely ready to come home see my family, friends, and of course my horse!

My second semester of my sophomore year went just fine. I got to get back in riding shape, took some challenging classes, and the semester flew by! I also applied to go on another J-term trip this coming year....I will be traveling in England! I am absolutely STOKED!

This summer was an absolute whirlwind. It was very busy (especially through July) but it was awesome! I did an internship with my horse's vet, Dr. Abraham, working 4 mornings a week, which was a great experience. I also put in some work hours at Hy-Vee to try to make a little more money.

Riding and showing my horse (Julia) took up the remainder of my time (or at least I was so tired at the end of the day I had NO social life), but in a VERY good way. It was Julia's first real season showing (she did one show last year, which ended with a pilot error in our stadium round) and I was so excited to see how she was going to react to her job! A little background on my horse-I got her in January of 2008, she used to be a racehorse (not a very good one, which is why I am lucky enough to have her :)) and I got her when she knew very little except the very basics. I've been working really hard with her since then and she's really grown up a lot and has a lot of potential. I was a little nervous at the beginning of the show season because we had not gotten to school any cross country this spring due to a minor injury she got just before my team went to Chicago over Easter weekend to practice on the course there. But off we went to Otter Creek in Wheeler, WI (one of my favorite events, it is beautiful!). This was her first show very far away from home because her first show last year was a very short drive, it was also quite a different atmosphere. We were entered in a novice division, and I had no expectations for placing, all I was wanting was to get Julia through the event with a positive experience and to leave with her feeling like her job is fun. She absolutely exceeded my expectations the entire weekend! She had a lovely dressage test, as she was still quite green (inexperienced) we hadn't worked very much on getting her to be more uphill and balanced on her hind end, so we lost some marks for being on the forehand, but she was so quiet and responsive! We got a score of 38.4 (or something like that) and were somewhere in the middle of the pack for placings. Before cross country I felt sick, mostly the nerves kicking in at the first show of the year, but mostly just hoping I would ride well enough to pilot my green horse around the course! However, I had nothing to worry about! Julia came out of the start box really looking at everything, like she was saying "woah Mom, what are we doing out here?", but she was so game for what I was asking of her! She looked at some of the fences but was never going to stop! She just thought she better clear them by a mile-just to make sure they didn't eat her. We definitely had some people laughing at how enthusiastically she was jumping, and some of the pictures look like she should be jumping things much bigger than we were, but she jumped around clear with just a handful of time penalties (which I was not concerned about, I took long lines to let her look at everything!). Stadium has always been my hardest phase, and as it was where we had trouble at her very first event I was pretty nervous. But once we got in the warm up ring, I felt much better, she warmed up great and I pushed my nerves away so I could really focus. Our round ended up being the surprise of my weekend! WE WENT DOUBLE CLEAR! She was quiet, focused, and she really felt like she was listening and trusting me about what she was supposed to do. I definitely had tears in my eyes after all three phases, I was SO proud of my horse, it makes me so proud to know that this is my horse who I've been training. To put the icing on the cake, we even ribboned. We brought home a pretty brown ribbon for 8th place in a division of over 20 horses, something I was not expecting after going into stadium in about 14th place or so, but that double clear round was one of the few in my division so it paid off!

Anyway, I won't ramble that much about all my shows I promise, that one was just very very special!

I'll update soon with a blog about how the rest of my season went and how my first semester of junior year is going so far!

Nearing the end...

So my trip is coming to a close, we fly home in two days (the 27th here) and get home (well into minneapolis) on the 27th. It's weird, we leave at about 7:30 PM on the 27th and get in at about 9:30 PM on the 27th...so we'll gain the days we lost coming over here! It's just weird that in time we'll only be two hours later getting in than when we left, but really we'll be in the air about 20 hours, plus layovers. Hopefully I can sleep most of the 12 hour flight like I did last time...and yay for in flight movies!
I am getting nice and freckly (and tan!)...and for the first time ever my legs are almost as tan as my arms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know...weird right?
Our last day on the beach today...really sad, especially since it was kinda rainy and cloudy, it's pouring rain right now. but still nice and warm!!!!!! :)
I miss everyone a lot...not quite enough to give up the warm weather yet, but I'm ready to come home, especially to get my horse ready for show season, only 4 months until our first one of the year, at least the first recognized one of the year, maybe we'll fit in a schooling show or two before that... (sorry, rambling!)
I hope everyone has been having a great january! I know mine has been one that has been a challenge, a learning opportunity, and tons of fun! I've gotten to know a great group of people, there has been basically no drama whatsoever, which with 16 college kids that's really surprising, but Joe did a great job of picking people that are very different, but who all get along really well!
I'm going to head back and have some dinner here soon!
I will see most of you very soon!
Love,
Lizzie

Free Internet Halelujah!!

Wow, finally found a place that offers free unlimited internet! Most of the time I've had to pay a few dollars for about 20 minutes of internet, not enough to write a decent blog post, let me tell you! But evidently the Aussies are a bit more generous with internet than the Kiwis!
Anyway, here's the scoop!
We arrived safely in Brisbane Australia 2 days ago after flying from Queenstown, NZ to Christchurch, NZ to Brisbane. We then got our vans, loaded up our backpacks, and headed out for a several hour drive to Byron Bay, in New South Wales, Australia. We got in about 10:00PM, which felt like 1AM ish New Zealand time. We were all pretty much ready to hit the sack, but went out to grab some food, then we went to bed. It's amazing how much of the time everyone's been asleep about 11, I guess all the physical activity is wearing us out, plus we're getting up about 8:30 every morning, so that's a pretty good sleep schedule I guess.
Anyway, we woke up the next morning for our first surfing lesson! We were picked up by these hippie surfer guys and went out to a beach where they taught us safety stuff and the basics of getting up on a surf board. Then we hit the water! Literally....
Actually I wasn't half bad, I think I got up my first try for about 10 seconds at least...it was a little touch and go for a while but with the help of the surf dudes we were all very successful and figured out how to ride some waves! We surfed for a few hours, then jumped in the freshwater lake right next to the water to rinse off. Some of the guys started launching people up in the air, I pulled a pretty sweet backflip! Lots of fun! Then we went back to our accomodations (really nice by the way! Joe definitely saved the best for last!), ate some lunch, and hit the beach!
(Drew you'll be really proud and jealous right now...) Once on the beach, Reid, Ashley and I started throwing a frisbee around. Both of them are on the Ultimate Frisbee teams at school, and actually I stopped sucking at throwing a frisbee and was doing really well by the end (I even learned how to throw it forehand!). Then I layed on the beach for a while reading my book, soaking up some sun...although it was a little overcast. Went back to the house, took an unintended nap, showered, and ate really good dinner made by some of our group! We had the luxury of a television and DVD player so we watched Wedding Crashers, such a good movie! Went out to get some late night ice cream, finished reading the 3rd Twilight book, and hit the sack. Very good day!
Today we woke up and went to another surf location and everyone did better today and I was catching waves on my own and riding them all the way into the beach! I have better balance on a surf board than I thought I would! I've spent the rest of the afternoon grabbing some lunch and shopping!
This trip has been absolutely fantastic. I've learned a lot about myself, especially how to get out of my comfort zone and try new things, and I've also learned that I'm a lot stronger and more determined than I thought. I've done some stuff that I really didn't think I was capable of, at least not capable of being as successful as I was, and it's been a real growing experience! (Plus the fact that the trip is in new zealand and australia really doesn't hurt either ;))
I'm ready to get home to see my family, friends, and especially my horse...but not quite ready for cold weather or classes, but that goes with the territory I suppose.
I feel like I've been here a really long time, but it also has gone SO fast...crazy!
Everyone should leave me some comments :) I'm curious as to who has been reading my blog! If you can't comment just shoot me an email... sauter.elizabeth@gmail.com
See a lot of you soon!
<3 Lizzie

Rock Climbing and horseback riding!

Hey everyone!
It's been a fun few days! Yesterday we were in Wanaka, which is just an hour from queenstown. We went rock climbing yesterday, way fun! We also repelled and went on a "mission" which was the craziest freaking thing I've done in my life. We were literally going through bushes and thorns, over boulders, into caves, through little tiny holes in rocks that I didn't think we were going to fit through, and on ledges, without rock climbing equipment, totally not safe. But we survived and it was fun when it was over..but I thought our guide person was definitely on crack. He was insane.
Today I went shopping this morning (now that I won't have to hike with my backpack anymore, I can load that puppy up!) and bought some good stuff, an outfit to wear here while going out, since all I have is hiking clothes...definitely not club material! I'm excited to wear my new swimsuit on the beach in Australia (we leave for the land down under tomorrow!)
I went horseback riding this afternoon, it was really nice, I was wishing that I was riding my horse, with all of my barn friends with me, but this was the next best thing! Rode a quick little horse who was a bit cheeky, but it was a lot of fun, the guide was really cool!
We're going out tonight to celebrate our last night in NZ before Australia so that should be fun!
Stay warm!
<3 Lizzie

I SURVIVED THE ROUTEBURN!!!!!!!!!!

You should probably look up the Routeburn hiking track if you have never heard of it. It's slightly INSANE. 3 days of hiking up/on/down a mountain...a very steep sided mountain by the way. Especially the second day where we were up above the tree line (about 4000 feet) in the wind and rain (brr...i know i know it's 30 below at home...but damp and cold isn't pleasant, but I'll take it over the weather at home) when a foot to the right of the trail the mountain drops off really sharply is a little nerve racking. One false move (especially with how graceful I am) could take you right down the mountain...ouch! But we all survived fine, a little wet and cold, but no worse for the wear! Some of the most spectacular views I have ever seen in my life! Definitely made the moments where I was asking myself what I was thinking when I signed up for the trip (aka along the ridge in the wind and cold on the steep mountain for 4 hours the second day) worth it! The huts we stayed in are nice, minus being in a room with a lot of snorers, and no showers....or electricity...I was defintely glad for a shower and laundry facilities today. We were all a little rank...
Today once we got off of the trail we headed up to queenstown (a pretty big very touristy town, with lots of adventure opportunities) and grabbed a bite of lunch, and I booked my horse trek for Tuesday which I am very excited about. On the way up to Wanaka (where we will rock climb tomorrow) we stopped at AJ Hackets bungy jumping where 3 of the girls bungy jumped on the bridge which was the very first bungy site in the world! I was tempted...but not enough to actually go.
So I'm safe and sound off the routeburn! Having fun! Missing home, all of you, and especially my horse! More soon!

Milford Sound

KiaOra from Milford Sound, NZ!
We drove today from TeAnau to Milford Sound, where we went on a boat ride through the sounds, which was breathtaking. The scenery was beautiful, and we saw a bunch of seals. The coolest part though was that there were dolphins swimming along beside the boat and jumping right in front of us for about 20 minutes, I have video and pictures, very very very cool! You should look up dusky dolphins, they're pretty different from our normal bottlenose dolphins, way pretty.
Tomorrow we start the Routeburn Trek, where we will be hiking for 3 days...I'm not super excited I have discovered that hiking is not my favorite past time, it's fine and worth doing once in a while but there's other stuff I'd pick to do instead...but oh well, it's all about personal growth right???
I miss my horse....if someone wants to send her over here I'd be tempted to stay a while longer...not that I don't miss you all but it's a lot easier to talk to you than it is to see her from another hemisphere.
Also sorry for the lack of phone calls...the pay phones here don't really like my phone card b/c it was bought in the states, even though it's an international phone card...whatever!!
You all should email me and tell me what's going on in your lives!!!
<3 <3

Just arrived in Queenstown

Hey everyone!
I just got off a plane in Queenstown (still in NZ) from Christchurch, we'll chill in TeAnau tonight, go for a boat ride tomorrow, and then start hiking the Routeburn trek the next day, and be hiking for 3 days 2 nights.
I haven't decided whether I'm going to bungee jump, skydive, jet boat, or go riding through where Lord of the Rings was filmed, I'm leaning towards the horseback riding A) because I am going crazy not getting on a horse and B) when am i going to get to ride in NZ??? and C) because it'd be sweet to ride where all the riding of LOTR was.. oh and D) b/c i'm going crazy not being on a horse!!!!

I hope everything is going great!

Survived the Abel Tasman!!!

Hey guys I just have about 4 minutes left before my internet runs out!
I survived the Abel Tasman kayak/hiking trip. A whole pod of dolphins (at least a dozen) swam right up to and under our kayaks! It was so cool! (I was thinking about how it was Julia's relatives the whole time haha). The hikes were challenging, and pushed me a lot, I was definitely a little sore by the end, but huge feeling of accomplishment when finished for sure!!! It was beautiful and I can't wait to show you all pictures.! We've been having fantastic weather, 70s and 80s, we've had basically no rain besides that first day, so it's glorious!!! I know it's the coldest week of the year back home, so sorry I'm missing it!
We went white water rafting today and it was tons and tons of fun! I'm going to try to get on tomorrow but I don't have anny more coins to put in the machine!!
Love and miss you all!!!

Sitting in the fanciest mcdonalds ever

Hey everyone! I'm currently in Nelson, NZ grabbing some lunch at the fanceist mcdonalds I have ever seen in my life. They have a few computers so I am taking a few minutes to write in here, check email, etc. We are on our way from Punga Cove to another part of NZ. The drive into Punga Cove is the twistiest road ever, I don't normally feel car sick but omg that made me so nauseous.
But Punga cove was really pretty, we did some kayaking yesterday, which the wind made some of it a little scary but overall it was really fun. I've learned how to play eucre (spelling?), we went on a tough hike yesterday, and have done a lot of cool stuff.
This trip is really pushing me which is great, I can already feel that I'm in better shape than I was. I have some nice sunburn on my thighs....feels great! not. but oh well, it could be a lot worse.
New Zealand accents are the best, by the way. I'm definitely going to bust it out every so often so you all better be ready!! (This post is super random, hopefully I'll have time soon to really write out a lot, I have everything down in a journal so expect more in a few days.
Tomorrow we start the first of our multiple day hikes, we're hiking and kayaking the Able Tasman trek, which should be really awesome!! I hope everything there is great, I heard there was a nice ice storm the other day. Stay warm and safe!
<3 Lizzie

Punga Cove

The day before yesterday we went on a really cool hike that took us up on a crest overlooking the ocean, which turned around and came back along the beach/rocky beach. We had saw a bunch of seals, had a kind of scary run in with a few but everyone is just fine!
Yesterday we arrived in Punga Cove, which is in the Malborough Sounds region of the south island. We started our drive from Kaikoura at about 9:30, and at about 11 we stopped at the Montana vinyard and winery and did a tour and wine tasting, very cool, then stopped in Blenheim (about 10 minutes past that), on the way to which we passed some horses and a sign that said dressage center...I might go crazy with all the great horses here not getting on one, but perhaps in Queenstown. We got groceries and then continued on our trek to Punga Cove, which was several hours and super windy and sketchy, but we made it here alright! It's absolutely gorgeous!
Went on a 4 hour hike this morning, lots and lots of hills...ouch! But amazing views made it worth it, I'm going to be in such good shape when I get home!!!
I would type more but this internet is super slow and expensive.
I hope all is well at home!!!
Lizzie

Safe and sound in New Zealand!

After a very long few days of travel (4 hours Minneapolis to San Fran, 7 hour layover, 12.5 hours to Aukland, NZ, 2 hour layover, and 1.5 hours to Christchurch, plus several hours of driving in NZ) I am finally in the land of the Kiwi's!!! Let me tell you, it is absolutely beautiful!! From the hostel we are staying in I can see beautiful mountains and the ocean, and if we look at the right time supposedly we will be able to see whales and dolphins in the water!!
We got in to Aukland at 4:30ish in the morning New Zealand time, then arrived in Christchurch about 8:30, and let me tell you my body was confused. They served us breakfast in the last part of our flight to aukland so by the time we reached Christchurch we were all ready for some lunch...at the Kiwi's typical breakfast hour, but we're acclimating and so "no worries!". We got in, our leader Joe and one of the student's bags didn't make it but are supposed to arrive tomorrow, so no big deal! We all made it through customs and got in our rental vans and drove around Christchurch and up to another town to go to a local market and to get some lunch (I'm sure the name will come right back to me after I post this), then back to Christchurch to go to the beach to watch some sand volleyball. Unfortunately it was a little rainy and a bit chilly (but still much better than home!) so we didn't stick around the beach too long, and we got in the vans for our drive up to Kaikoura. The drive took us through mountains and along the ocean, seeing many different trees, and types of vegetation, as well as many sheep, a bunch of cows, and a few horses too (I saw some jumping type stuff set up and kind of want to try my hand at a new zealand horse). Towards the end of the drive it was really twisty and right along the cliffs down to the ocean and we had a little hairy moment when there was a huge semi tailgating us down these narrow twisty NZ roads, but Joe pulled over and let him pass and it was all good! Totally weird driving on the left side of the road, by the way!
Our hostel in Kaikoura (Dolphin Lodge) is simple, but has quite possibly one of the most gorgeous views I have ever seen! An intense game of wiffle ball before dinner, overlooking mountains and the ocean, and a relaxing soak in the hot tub (to get out all the aches of travel, my back was definitely a hurting unit) rounded out the evening, a quick shower, a check of the email and blog entry and I'm about ready to head towards bed. Tomorrow we're just chilling in Kaikoura, maybe hitting the beach, we were going to swim with dolphins but the place is completely booked because this is big tourism season for them, so I think we're just going to take it easy and recoup from the trip.
I hope everyone is having a great start to their new year!! Leave me some comments, or shoot me an email or facebook message!!! I wish you all could see this, if you ever get the opportunity to come to New Zealand, even from what I've seen in less than 24 hours, jump at the chance, you will not regret it!!!!
<3 <3 <3