girl gone kiwi.: Hate to be morbid but, it's the beginning of the end..

Maybe you've figured out blogs aren't my thing...

It seems since we got back from mid semester break the study part of 'study abroad' has really cracked down. My days and nights have mostly been full of Uni work and a lot less fun than in the beginning. Two weeks ago Taylor's sister, Kasarah visited and they had a great week full of adventures and catching up. I joined them on a little road trip to Taupo at the end of the week. It was weird driving the familiar road to Taupo filled with landmarks we've become so familiar with like Mt. Doom and of course, the Gumboot Cafe and know that it wold probably be the last time we see them. I guess that's when I realized it's really the beginning of the end of our crazy, memorable adventure, here in New Zealand. Anyway, nostalgia aside, Taupo was really fun! I didn't really do anything except for some homework and look around... thug life had to hit me eventually! I went along on Tay and Kas' skydive adventure and documented via Tay's flipcam, one step closer to being a professional skydiving photographer!
After we made it back to Welly we picked up Nicole and went on the hunt for little Blue Penguins (not a literal hunt, of course). Well, things got a bit heated when Tay and Kas were bickering about Taylor's driving when we came across a Blue Penguin in the middle of the road, stopping just before we killed it! Phew, tragedy avoided. Nicole hopped out of the car and chased it away in an effort to capture it? Not sure on that one.. We continued on to Breaker Bay and some surrounding bays in the complete dark looking for a herd of these little guys. With no luck, we deemed ourselves satisfied with that one saved soul and headed back. Good thing I have night vision because I spotted another little herd of them in a bush and we got another dose of the little, flightless birds. We went back to the Cube and picked up MegMorg for some southern style cookin' at "Sweet Mother's Kitchen" topped off with gelato at "Kaffee Eis" a truly tasty night. The rest of my weekend and week was filled with my Wellington photo project which ended up being a lost cause, don't wanna talk about it! On Thursday my parents ventured across the world and made it to New Zealand. It was really awesome seeing them after four months, I've had a great time showing them around my stomping ground. For my birthday we went on a Seal Coast Safari where we saw wild horses, goats, sheep and seals... and mutilated goats... not something you want to see on your birthday! At night, my awesome flatmates threw me a 'surprise' party and decked the flat out in Kiwiana, complete with a homemade twister game!
Since then I've been failing at getting ahead and completing all of my hand-ins so I can have a work-free vacation in Aussie. I leave for the airport in about an hour and am forced to bring a backpack full of homework and final papers... procrastination is the enemy. Anyway, i'm off for a few days to our neighbors to the West for some Blue Mountains, beaches, and diving the Great Barrier Reef!