We made it back to Queenstown today after a good road trip down around the southern part of the South Island here in NZ. Last evening was pretty cool because we found a cool spot along the coast and saw penguins for the first time in the wild. They are also the rarest penguins on earth so it was interesting to watch them come up out of the water and go to their nests in the evening. We just drove a lot and saw some of the country. Got sent on a few wild goose chases as well. there was one place called Niagra falls of New Zealand. We drove there and it was way out in the country. We arrived to find a waterfall that dropped about 1 foot so it was all a joke just to get tourists to come to that area i guess. It was a little funny and i guess we can understand why they want some company because there was nothing out there. So, here's some pics. Hope everyone is well! I'm good. Taking it easy in Queenstown for a few days. Staying at some friends apt. while they are out of town so its nice to have a good place to rest for a few days. Sometimes its rough on the road trying to find a place to stay every night. Mosquitos and sandflys get bad and keep me up all night so i'll sleep good tonight! Yall take it easy and catch up soon!
Jared

Hey hey! So whats going on back at the Fort? I'm here in Te Anau, NZ having to take it easy for a few days until these blisters on my feet get better. Its kinda hard for me to sit on the sidelines but no choice really since i can't do anything that will make it worse. Not big deal though, so mom, don't worry, I didn't catch gain green or anything like that. just had to amputate one of my feet but I'll be straight! Its really nice here and there are all kinds of things to do like take boat rides, fly around in a helicopter, and eat out, but I'm just chillin so my money will last as long as possible. Livin on oodles of noodles, peanut butter, tuna, fruit, cheese, and a few other fine foods! I heard about this thing they do here called WWOOFing. All those letters stand for something about working on an organic farm. There are all types and people who live out in the country and invite folks to come work for them on their farms in exchange for accommodation and food. I've been looking through the book at a few so I'll contact them eventually and try to do that. Its a good way to get to know the locals, be in the country, and not spend any money. This area I'm in now is called the Fiordlands. In America we would call it Fjordlands i reckon since we spell Fjord that way. Its basically lots of beautiful mountains with lakes and rivers everywhere and many of them lead to the sea. I haven't made it to the coast yet but plan to do so hiking and talked to many people about how beautiful it is there. They say you see lots of dolphins, sea lions, and penguins. Not sure when I'll get there but you'll know when i do. Every night we're not on the trail we stay in the van but I've been setting my tent up now because sandflys always get in the van when you open the door and i enjoy having my own spot in my tent. Sandflys are bad in this area i guess because of all the water. When hiking on most of the "tracks" as they call them, you usually stay in huts that are spread apart by a few miles most of the time. When i cam up on a hut for the first time I couldn't believe how nice they were. They have running water and several bunks with pads to sleep on. They also have a fireplace so they are nice to stay in for sure. Back at home you might find a shelter along the appalachain trail but they are just that usually, as shelter. There are lots of hikers or "trampers" as they say around so the take good care of the trails and you see a fair amount og people. The peak season has just ended though so maybe there will be less people on the trail now. I'll have to take a good picture of Vinny's van soon so you all can see it. you'll laugh when you imagine us rolling! I've been driving some and its really hard to get used to driving on the left side. Sometimes you have to concentrate pretty hard but I think i got it now. It is really beautiful here though. the weather is a little quick to change in this area because of the mountains and winds coming off the sea but the people are really really nice everywhere you go and I'm enjoying it for sure! I do miss the luxuries of home and the comfort of the Cave, but I keep my head straight and not getting homesick or anything. I'm glad to be in such a beautiful place when there is so much hiking and the landscape is just amazing. i saw that we got a new president the other day! People here are happy about that. i was in that damn swamp when he got innaugurated so I forgot to tell the truth. It seems as if the rest of the world is glad to see him and he's certainly better than the shrubbery we had before. Here are some pics of my last hike. Needless to say after 3.5 hours of wading through a lake and andother 3.5 of crawling and falling through a swamp we had to turn back. The sign at the trailhead says its serious but we could easily make that route. The reason it was so rough for us is that we trie to do a loop which adds about 20 miles to the trip and part of the loop you have to find your own way. Thats where it got us. We made the right choices though so no worries. I'm not into dying in the wilderness so i don't push it too far. i have too much to come home too! ;-)
Catch up later! Miss you all! Miss riding bikes with chris, chris and my bro, playing the guitfiddle with matt, stopping by the horses for a crown and 7, hanging with the triangle, eating that good home cookin!
Here are a few pics. Me putting iodine on my cuts, scrapes, and blisters once we made it back to the hut. Vinny gave me the hat bc i left mine in the heavy chevy at home. Others of the trail, rivers, and lakes.

Hey folks!
Saw all of your comments on the jump and you're right it was pretty crazy. Standing there for that long was really something. I just got out of the woods and here washing clothes at a laundromat now. Vinny and I attempted one of the toughest hikes of my life but couldn't make it due to a 12 hour day that started wading through a lake for 3.5 hours, then bushwacking through the Black Swamp for another 3 hours, then we just had to turn back because the trail was no longer visible, bushwack back through the jungle/swamp, then was back through the lake again to the hut. the lake water was about 45 degrees, it poured the rain down all day non stop so we were soaked the entire time. you talk about worn out and tired. We finally reached the hut at 11pm that night after wading through the lake the last hour and a half in the dark and pouring rain. Very cold as well! Now my feet are all torn up so I have to wait a few days for them to heal before I can hike again. Should have kept my boots on but wnated to keep them dry if possible and tried to use these water shoes instead. They let rocks in and tore my feet up but the water was so cold I couldnt really tell. We did about 45 miles in all i guess and the hike out was really painful on my feet! SO now, I'm just chillin here at a laundromat washing clothes. The computer is beeping because i only have a minute left! Hope everyone is well.I found a thing on the net called SKYPE. you can call anywhere almost free so maybe I'll give someone a ring! Tell everyone I said hello! Take care! I'll post pics when i get to a bwtter computer!
Much love!

The Jump

As you can see it was craaazy! I reckon thats about the craziest thing I've done so far. Not really sure what else i can do to top that. I wasn't really that nervous once i got up there and saw it but if you watch the video the guys working there were messing with me pretty hard. They knew I was ready to go and a good sport and they also liked my accent so it made me stick out and i think thats why they chose to mess with me a little. Once he walked me out to the edge, he let me go(they usually hold you on your back right up until you jump) and said "don't fall I have to fix this right quick." So, I'm standing there, can't see anything beside me or behind me because i was too focused on keeping my balance. The wind was blowing like crazy and i was wondering to myself; is he unhooking me to fix something while i'm standing right on the edge of this 440 ft drop??? I wanted to look around for something to grab but too scared to turn my head and lose my balance. He was just playing with the little strings that stick out of the bungy cord and he knew when i watched the video i would see it. Just couldnt look down or anything while standing there. Thats one place that you just can't understand what it feels like to be in unless you're there! Once i jumped I remember turning vertical and thats when it felt like i was flying! Straight to the ground. Once the bungy caught, all the blood rushed to my head, my eyes almost popped out, then it was like ahhhhhhhh!

On the way to the jump

This is our interviews on the way to the bungee. Nevis Bungee is the 3rd highest in the world at 134 meters or 440 feet! It ain't no joke!

Hey Hey! I finally made it to Queenstown and met up with Vinny. Gonna stay with him and his friends for a few days and then hit some trails. I had a bit of a delay on the way here. The plane was about to take off on the runway and the pilot turned back and took us back in because something was wrong with one of the engines. So i sat in the airport for bout 3 hours while they fixed it. Crossed my fingers and we took off 3 hours late so i got to Christchurch NZ at 2 am. Then walked around like a zombie in the airport and tried to sleep a little until 7:3-0 when i caught a 7 hour bus ride to Queensland so I'm a little tired. No sleep last night but i can sleep when I'm dead. Good to see you fellers on here. It should start getting fun now! Gotta run because i'm in an internet cafe and it costs too much1 Get back soon!

Whats up Ssssssweeeny and Greg!!  Good to see ya! 

Heading to New Zealand

Good to see you here Rock.  I didn't know you were surfin the net!  Yeah, i didn't even know about my dad until today.  I reckon they didn't want me to worry but i believe i can handle it.  Just glad he'll be alright.  Everyone:  if you see him or my mom smoking a cigarette, jerk it out of their mouth and stomp it into the ground! :-) 

If you guys want to know what time it is in New Zealand, just add 6 hours to your time, then change the am to pm or pm to am, whichever applies.   For Australia you add 4 hours.  So right now its 10:07 am on thursday, yes thursday here which means its 6:07 pm on wednesday there.  Crazy huh?  I traveled into the future!!  My flight leaves tonight at 5:50 for ChristChurch, New Zealand.  Traveling 2 more hours into the future.  I'm gonna stay in a hostel there, then find my way to Queenstown, where I'll meet up with my friend Vinny (Vincent Worth) who is from Fort Mill.  The last time i saw him i was swimming in the ocean, looked over, and there he was!  We have plans to do a big Bungee jump (called Nevis bungee in NZ, look it up!), then I'm hitting the trails.  Here's a site that shows some of the trails I'm going to do:  www.tramper.co.nz  They don't call it hiking, they call it tramping.  So I reckon I'm a tramp over here.

There are pics on several of them and comments by people who have hiked them and it looks amazing.  I'm really ready to get out of this city and into the backcountry.  Well, thats it for now.  It shouldn't take long once i get there to have some really good pics.  If anyone ever wants to give me a ring, you just dail o11 61 0402152128.  I have free incoming but it won't be cheap for you.  I'll catch y later!

You Know how weeee doo!

Matt n Amy, nice to see you here!  Hope everything is good for you guys!  I'm good, just been hanging with my friends here but getting ready to kick it off right in New Zealand tomorrow so the pics should be getting good soon!  If you could please find out what Scoobs address is so i can send a postcard to all those old men at the horses lol.  I think its like 1334 but not sure.  Talk to you soon!

We went into the city (Melbourne) last night for dinner and I got into a bit of a scrape with a Kangaroo!  He got the best of me here but don't be fooled.  It was nice but I must say I'm ready to get out of the city and head to New Zealand where i can do some hiking in the country where i belong!  

Melbourne and the Cricket Match

Enjoying myself here in Melbourne for sure.  I have a place to stay, good friends and they've been showing me around.  Tonight I went to a Cricket match for the first time.  There was about 64,000 people there and it was pretty cool.  Very similar to going to a baseball game.  About the same pace, just different game.  For the next few days I'll be doing some research on jobs in New Zealand and on thursday I'm flying there.  Found a cheap flight for like $100.  I talked to Vinny, who's been there for a few months now so we're going to get up and do some backpacking, hiking, and it looks like even a little bungy jumping.  Needless to say, the interesting pics will be coming soon.  Hope all is well back in the Fort!  Keep in touch!

Well, I made it to Melbourne and two friends I met back in 2004 in Barcelona Spain picked me up at the airport.  Lucy has a spare room i can stay in for a while until I get my master plan together.  I'm pretty sure I'll crash hard tonight seeing as I've had almost no sleep for the past three days.  Its very nice here though.  We had lunch down by the beach and going to a BBQ with their friends this eve.  Reckon it'll be a little different than Gilb's!  Probably lamb.  I might have to show them a trick or two.  Glad to see al the people checkin the blog out.   I'll get back soon and figure out how to post my pics as well!

Right now I'm at a pretty sketchy hostlel in L.A. First time here, just waiting for my flight tomorrow at 6:40 pm. Possibly meeting an old friend from home tomorrow who lives here now, then on to my destination. Tomorrow morning I'll just walk down and check out venice beach and maybe stroll through hollywood and see if i can land a gig. Yeah right, I'd rather be in the outback!