Queenstown, South Island

After about 12 hours on the bus, I am finally here. What a charming city! One of the America's Cup Yachts is parked in the harbor and my Motel is right next to a soccer field (they were actually playing American soccer when I arrived). A short walk down Camp street puts me in the center of town where I stumbled on an Internet cafe having a "Happy Hour" special. $3 for an hour. So far, it's the cheapest I've found in the SI & fastest connection.

The bus trip was long but SO scenic & worth it. People warned me it'd be rough & curvy & it so wasn't at all. We made plenty of stops in the cutest farm towns and cafes and I was able to sneak in a few necessary souvenir pit stops here & there with the various "flat white" aka Lattes to boost my energy. The best stop was Mt. Cook- it was still snow capped and enormous. The driver told us that it's usually covered in fog and only visible 40% of the year but today it was crystal clear and the sun hit that one peak perfectly so it was as if the white tip of Mt. Cook was lit up woth it's own special spotlight while the darker peaks surrounding sat in the overcast dull.

The roadside was covered in lavender plants and millions of purple, pink, and magenta flowers the entire way up. I wish I knew the name of them but I took pictures as they just grow wild . . . wildly. It was crazy to see pure white mountains surrounded by green farmlands with sprinkled purple dusted with grazing cattle, sheep, deer, ostraches, and even alpicas! There was one instance this morning where the coach stopped suddenly and there she was- a brown cow mooing right in the middle of the road faced with this enormous coach head on! The entire bus laughed, and then the cow startled and headed for the barbed wire to try to jump back over but we were off before I could see if she had met another nasty fate. I hope not. It was actually one of the more attractive cows- it looked exactly like the cow in City Slickers. It was a truly spectacular drive.

My cold is in full swing now (dang it!) and so sleeping on the bus off & on for 12 hours was a blessing. Every time I woke up there was a new picturesque scene to look at and then I'd dose again. I tried making friends with a few girls but to no avail until I spotted some solo guy from my bus shooting pics with my exact camera and that broke the ice for us. So at least I had a lunch partner and someone to chat with at the next stops. We discussed the music/film industry and LA vs. Australia & France. He's from the South of France but working in Australia- promoting concerts there. I was shocked at how 'polite' he was about America. I thought the French hated us but turns out his cousin married an American from Orange and is living well so I guess that allowed Antony to be nice to me.

I am on a solo journey again and looking forward now to tomorrows Cruise to Milford Sound. They tell me that it's spectacular- even if it's raining because that's when the waterfalls are full. It could go either way. It's been chilly & windy the whole ride up but now it's a warm breeze. It's also 7pm ish and it doesn't get dark down here until well after 10pm! That is the very cool thing about walking around by yourself- it's daylight for as long as you could possibly need it to be.

There is a strange freedom now in travelling alone that I couldn't grasp while at the Vedders. I find myself being "me" much more freely instead of the quiet and reserved girl I was for the first two weeks. I mean, I have pretty much started every conversation with every person I've ended up talking to- and it amazes me that we actually can keep a conversation going beyond- "where are you from?" Anyway . . . it's strange to go from feeling like I did when I was 12 and completely homesick, withdrawn, shy, and reserved, to being happy, relaxed, flexible, friendly, and bold. So many things have ended up not going the way I thought- and so many things that I've done has scared the crap out of me this past week, but I never ever felt freaked or stressed- seriously! I would tell you if I did! I realized this when on a horse trek up a VERY steep hill my horse "Lyrical" stopped suddenly and then a rabbit jumped out at us and she spooked. I just tightened the reins, dug my heels in, and held he so she didn't go. My heart wasn't even pumping and I thought "wow, why didn't I freak?" The other girl in my group (an experienced rider) was in tears over something else. I guess maybe the fact that it was a "boot camp' environment maybe made me feel confident? Not sure.

Anyway, I won't get ahead of myself because there are a few days to go and bigger mountains to climb . . . (no pun intended). Please do pray I feel better. I think this is cold number 5 in the last 3 months. NOT FUN.

Love you all, will have to post pictures when I get back. Courtney, I haven't found Winnie's yet but will go exploring in a sec to get some dinner.

Jaime, Snow patrol's "Light Up" acoustic version is playing right now in this cafe! Ahhhh.