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.

This weekend I went on a surf trip. A few of us went with Mojo surf camp. They drove us 6 hours north to Crescent Head. We stayed at their camp, which was on the beach, and surfed all day sat. They also cooked for us, so that was a relief. Finally I got some good meals. At night we had bonfires.

Surfing is fun, but aggravating. You have to get the timing just right. It was a lot of fun though and a good break from Coogee and school.

My 21st birthday. Here is how it went...

We had about 30 people, most of them already lived with me. We all pre-drank and my house and played some mixed drink pong. Then we took over the bus and headed to the city. I feel bad for the 4 Aussies on the bus, because there were 30 loud Americans running around and taking pictures and such. 

We went the an area of the city called Kings Cross, this spot has a hot nightlife, but it is also where all the strip clubs and prostitutes are so it was kinda seedy. (No, I did not get a hooker or go to a strip club). We started our pub crawl at a lounge called SoHo. For all those people who know NYC, it was pretty much a wanna be NYC lounge bar. It was great and since it was a Monday night there was no one in there except for my group. 

Next we headed to Iquana Bar, which was a hidden bar down a random street, but it was small and intimate with pictures of celebrities all over the walls. After that we went to Bourbon, which was one of my favorites because it was upstairs and had a big balcony that had a good view. It was $8 cocktails until midnight, so the party began to take off. The featured cocktail of the night was Alaskan Thunder Fuck.

A few girls I live with joined us at this bar and then told me to head down the street to another bar called Empire. Those girls work at a bar called the Palace right by our house and their boss told them to go there. So we went and because of their boss we got a $100 bar credit. I'll leave what we drank to the imagination of my readers, partly because I don't remember.

Finally we hit up my favorite bar/lounge called World Bar.  They have tea-pots full of special mixed drinks. There I met an Australian Guy who was having his 30th birthday. He was so drunk that he bought me 15 tequila shots. Since there is no way I could take them all I called over some people and everyone who stayed with me through all 5 bars got their free shot.

Overall it was a great night. I know everyone had a lot of fun including me. It was a big bonding experience also and one of the best birthdays I have ever had.

Today is my 21st birthday. (Tomorrow for the US). Now I am finally legal to do anything I want (except for rent a car), but I can drink anywhere in the world. So I think we should go through the major alcoholic events in my life.

Age 12- First Drink, wine shots at synagogue for Kiddush. (friends and I would keep sneaking them until we were caught by the rabbi who started guarding the table)

Age 15- Drank for no reason at sleep overs. Never got drunk because we were afraid our parents would notice the bottle depleting.

Age 16- First time actually drunk. Visit to SDSU.

Age 16-17- Lots of drinking. Coldstone camping trip... which led to bet with Kevin.

Age 18- Lots of drinking. Frat parties. Learned my limits.

Age 19- Drunk all over Europe... which led to a little break.

Age 19-20- Not a sip.

Age 20- Began drinking again, this time smartly and responsibly.

Age 21- We'll see.....

I think I'm gunna go to New Zealand for spring break.

Here are some pictures of the olympic stadium.

Yesterday I traveled with a group out to the Blue Mountains. It is about a 1 1/2 hour bus ride from Sydney. We made a stop at the olympic stadium, where they help the 2000 olympics. Then headed to the mountains. They call it the Blue Mountains because they look blue from far away. There were amazing views of valleys down below and great hikes through the forests on the mountain. Lots of waterfalls and caves. Then when you get to the very bottom they have the world's steepest railway take you back up to the top. It was like a rollercoaster, and they played the Indiana Jones theme song.

It was way too cold up in the mountains though. I think I'm going to go back when it is warmer and go rock climbing and repelling.