Still Searching for Legolas!

So, I bought internet at this other Top Ten Holiday Park we are staying in! That means that I actually get to write my blog in blogger instead of on a word document! Yay!

Yesterday, after waking up in our lovely hostel, the whole group journeyed down to this cute little bakery down the street in Queenstown. We could pick from an assortment of pastries and coffee to have for breakfast. I ordered this bacon, egg, and tomato sandwich, which came with something like bbq sauce and was just delicious. I also got a Cappuccino, which was so much better than one from Starbucks, simply because it had that personal, Mom and Pop feel.

Van, Alee, and I talked to Carl, our bus drivers, for awhile. He told us about holidays in New Zealand. Kiwis still celebrate Christmas in December, which is their summer, so a lot of people have started having Christmas barbeques instead of family dinners inside, which I think is really cool. There is also a surprisingly large amount of protest against starting Halloween trick or treating here. Some Kiwis will actually put up signs telling the trick or treaters to go away! That just seems to be a bit of strange behavior in a generally friendly community, but it guess it just is along the lines of resistance to change.

We also got to (finally) split up into small groups and do our own things around town! I was in a group with Van, Kelsey, Lauren, and Karter. We stopped by this really nice old church and I got this sweet shot of a bird, just staring at me!

blah blah blah. Lunch happened, we went up a gondola, got some pics of the landscapes. This kinda stuff is better expressed in pictures than in words, really.

Oh oh oh! I bought a hat! A really cool one. It is grey and blue and says New Zealand in it! Very good for keeping me warm in this chilly weather!

Once we were done with Queenstown, we all jumped back in the bus with Carl and headed off to Wanaka! We ended up in a Top Ten Holiday Park again, which I thought was awesome because we all got to be together in a lodge again. However, the beds and doors creak! If I try to go to sleep and I want to roll over, I am awakened by the sound of "Ehh aaa eehh aaa." Not so fun.

But I am ranting. This morning, still in Wanaka, we took some morning shots of the lake we are staying by, and a group shot!

Then we went to this place called Puzzling World. It has this giant maze and a whole bunch of rooms with different illusions! the first one was a bunch of holograms, the second, a room of following famous faces, the third, a tripppyyy room on a 45 degree angle that had us all falling over and sliding up! The last one was a perspective room, like how they made the hobbits very small in LOTR. I have some very funny giant and hobbit pictures to show you!

Oh, and I also fell in love with this game called 40 Noughts and Crosses. It would be an awesome coming home gift! *hint* You can probs find it online, Mom!

Oh, and I literally got lost in this GIANT maze. We had to find these different towers on all four corners, and Van and I just owned. We found all of them!

After the visit to Puzzling World, we all took a hike up Mt. Iron. Well, I say all but that's not really what happened. Before we started the hike, the group played a game of Bird on a Perch. So, you pick a partner in a big group, and the "perches" go counterclockwise in an inner circle, and the "birds" go clockwise in the outer circle. When the leader calls "Bird on a Perch!" The outer birds have to jump onto their perches! The last bird to get on their perch loses. I was the bird to Miles's perch, but we lost pretty early on. Carson, however, was slightly injured while playing and needed some time to recuperate before going on a big hike.

So, back to the hike. It was hard. Uphill, sweat, aching quads. Such a good work out, but it burned. Making it to the top was so worth it though. The view was beautiful.

Now, after laundry, and after paying $10 for internet (I thought it was worth it mom!), I am updating this blog! Now it's time to pick my Top Ten pics for today! Cheers!