click here to see photos


Well my first week in Invercargill has been so eventful! The first day I got here I went to the river and showed off my knee-boarding skills to a bunch of old (by old I mean in their 30's) men who were saying knee boarding from the middle of the lake instead of the shore was too hard. I showed them! I biked to the beach (9 miles) and back, swam with dolphins and met some of the most interesting people in my life! On Sunday I played the piano in Sacrament Meeting for my first time. I was really nervous but my new friend Tori (she is 3 years old) Walked up and sat right down beside me and began playing the closing Hymn with me. It was really funny and nobody could hear my mistakes over her pounding! I ride my bike everywhere including church and most of the time I like it. The bruises on my butt are almost healed. We had a picnic with the branch yesterday where I did a sack race, egg throw, wheel-barrow race, and 3 legged race (which are all things I haven't done in a long time!) We played volleyball with the branch on Friday for 3 hours--volleball with the polynesians is BRUTAL! But it was fun. I learned how to play touch Rugby and I ate pavlova. It's a dessert that tasts like foam with cream and fruit on top.

Tomorrow will be my real day of Adventure New Zealand 101. We're doing confidence exercises in the pool and then by next week we'll be learning kayaking, surfing, rock climbing and tramping.

I live with the sweetest lady in the world. Helen von Randow is her name and she is magical. She cooks the best meals and has the most interesting life history. She's so sweet to Janessa (my flatmate) and I, we really love her. I have some pictures of her home and our room and her dogs. Janessa fell on a slide in Christchurch and got her tooth knocked out--it was really funny. She has a temporary denture for now and will fix her self permanently once we get home. The weather here is beautiful! I love every minute of it!