Today was my second full day in Queenstown, NZ. I went bungy jumping off of the 3rd biggest bungy in the world, 440ft. It was the craziest and most extreme thing I have ever done. It was a huge rush and I would do it again in a heart beat. I bought the DVD and I had someone use my own camera to record my jump, so I am going to edit all the footage together and everyone can see.

After the bungy we took a gondola up into the mountian tops. There we could see the whole view of Queenstown and the mountains and lakes. They had a street louge and everyone got 5 free rides on the course. As juvinile as it sounds it was a lot of fun. It began to snow so the last couple races i had was with snow pounding down.

We then went to the sky swing whih is a giant swing that drops you and swings you in the air dangling hundreds of feet up above the trees. It was great, but a scary drop. Not as bad as the the bungy but equaly as fun.

Tonight our guide is taking everyone out for dinner and after a day like today it is time to get drunk.

NEW ZEALAND!!!!! I have arrived. Actual I arrived on the 25th, but this is the firs time I have internet access. I arrived really late at night in Christchurch on the 25th on a plane that was full of people going on the trip. I knew most of them already because they live in Coogee and go to UNSW also. 6 of us all live in Kurrawa together. We found a super shuttle that took us right to out hostel and it only cost us 7 NZ dollars. We all went to bed. The next morning the bus took picked us up and we met our guide Pat and the rest of the people on the tour. I already know half of them. The bus is like a party bus driving through NZ. If you look out the window all you see is mountians with snow capped tops and green grass and trees, and sheep, lots of sheep. There are 4 mil people who live in NZ and 40 mil sheep to put it in perspective.

The scenery is beautiful, I could argue that this is the most beautiful country I have ever been to. All the colors stand out. The lakes are blue, the grass is green, and the mountains are massive. We arrived in Fox Glacier where we would sleep for the night. We drank that night and went out to the only bar in town.

The next day we went glacier hiking. It was pouring rain and freezing weather, but an amazing experiance. Wer were given full hiking outfits and boots and spikes for our shoes. We hiked through a rain forest and up a mountain of trees to get to the glacier. Walking through the glacier was an experiance like none other. I felt like I was shrunk down and walking through a giant ice cube. We walked through ravines of ice with ice walls over 15 feet tall. The entire glacier goes down for about 200 meters.

The next day we drove to Queenstown, stoping for photos of lakes and moutnains. There is no such thing as abad view in NZ. We arrived in Queenstown which is the adventure capitol of the world. Started it off with a pub crawl.

That brings us to today. Today was our first adrenaline day. We began with a high speed boat ride through mountian ravines. The boat hit 60mph and missed the walls by only a couple feet. When in open waters open waters our driver did 360s.

Immediatly following the boat we went and got into wet suits and jackets and boarded a helicopter. We got a helicopter ride over the mountain tops and over the river. We were dropped off on a bank with white water rafts waiting for us.

We broke up into groups and white water rafted down the river. We hit class 4 and 5 rapids (6 is the highest) throwing lots of people off the raft. Everyone survived.

So that is the first part of my Extreme NZ Spring Break. Tonight is Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) and my friend Doug is going to lead some prayers tonight for the Jews on the trip, there are many of them.

Last week I went to the opera house for the first time. It is a great piece of architecture. It was beautiful from the outside. I went back at night a few days later and saw it when it was all lit up. That area near the opera house and the harbor are surely a sight to see. I saw the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Opera House. They played popular scores from movies. A perfect thing to see for me. It was great. 

The weather has been unbelievable here. This weekend it was in the 80s every day and I'v been on the beach. The beach was packed, it was hard to find a spot.

These past few weeks have been horrendous. I have had work all the way up my ass. Paper after paper after presentation due. Now I just have one little paper due thurs and Im off to New Zealand for Spring Break. It will be good to have a break from school, especially one with lots of new activities to do. Im not sure of the exact itinerary but I know some of the activities that are included are glacier hiking, helicopter ride, speed boat ride, white water rafting, street luging, and even a sheep sheering demonstration.

I booked all the flights for my "world trip" today. So here is my itinerary:

Nov 4-8 Bali, Indonesia 

Nov 8-16 Thailand  (Bangkok, Ko Phagan, Phuket)

Nov 17-23 New Zealand (North Island)

Nov 23-29 Fiji

Then I head back to San Fran on Nov 30th.

I have arranged the Contiki Resort for Bali, which is 4 star all inclusive. Ill be attending the Full Moon Festival in Thailand. In New Zealand I will be spending time at the Bay of Islands and the Waitomo Caves. And in Fiji I will be on a tour that takes you to 3 different Islands. 

The best part is I got good deals for everything because I am a student.

Im ready for the world.