The Day I Hopped the Fence

6/14/16

I woke up early AGAIN. I'm really getting sick of waking up early/not being able to fall asleep/not being able to stay asleep once I finally do fall asleep (lol jokes on me because the reason I'm typing this out right now is because of the reasons just given and it's like 5 months later lol). It's really getting old, especially since these days I don't have very much time to sleep to start with.
Once it was finally time for me to leave (which was still really early), I made my way down to the train station (sorry these area bit out of order, the train station in Perth, Australia).
Thanks to staring at the screenshots of Google Maps for a long while, I didn't get lost this time! It's actually really close by. I love how centralized my hotel is, even if I do believe it's haunted.
At the train station, I noticed everyone had printed their entire confirmation email (like 6 pages) even tho I only printed the first page which was like the ticket part. I started to internally freak out a little bit. Then I saw some people with only one page so I attempted to calm down but then I saw the one pagers' had a barcode on them. Mine didn't. Cue that begging praying that God can't possibly like yet I continue to do it anyways. Grrreat. Then we start boarding and I notice the ticket collector isn't scanning anything. Bless him. He just checks the name off the list.
Was it me or was he American? The more tired I am the harder it is to tell and I don't know if he has an American accent or if I've unintentionally slipped back into the Aussie thing that sometimes came out without my knowledge/consent in middle school (once people started pointing it out, I just called it a redneck/country/Texas/southern English accent lol). Mind you, middle school was way before my first trip to this great country; I guess it was just ingrained in me. Could probably blame the Wiggles or those kid songs I grew up on that I recently found out are actually Aussie songs and no one in America has a clue what I'm talking about or what a kookaburra is. Now that I think about it, the fact it's in a gum tree probably should've tipped me off. Oh well.
So anyways, back to the train. So the guy must've read my mind (they are seriously so good at that here!) because randomly, he comes into the car and is like "New Jersey, USA" and I'm just like yeah, American. Ride on, brotha, ride on (okay that last part I just added while writing in my blog book but I was pretty hype he was from the states because that meant I wasn't going crazi[er]).
I get off at my stop in Byford, and it's literally in the middle of no where. Like where are the taxis? Which way do I go? I've no idea.
I see a sign for a parks and rec building so I start in that direction, but after a while I turn around. I use my roaming data to try to get an Uber, but it isn't loading. I see a church with lots of cars and figure I'll go ask them, but some lady pulls up and asks if I need help. I asked her how to get to the koala park, hoping she'd give me a ride because I know it's only a mile away. Instead, she just tels me to go over the railway tracks and it's 10 minutes walk down the road. I ask her if I can because there's a big barb wire fence surrounding the tracks (and lots of no trespassing sings) and she's like "yeah, people do it all the time" so I'm like "okay thanks" and she leaves.
So I make sure nobody's looking and there's no train coming and I cross the tracks. It's not suicidal if you don't want to die, right? Woo, made it. Now for the fence. I walk along it for a while, yeah it goes all the way around. The gate is probably locked but I'll check it anyways. Yes, it is chained and locked and even I can't squeeze through. Okay, I'll have to climb. To make sure I'm not seen so I don't go to jail or get deported or fined, I got back into the wooded section. Oh great, there's a pole I can use as a step and part of the fence is already bent. I throw my suitcase over and hop onto the pole. I try to bend the fence more so as to put the pokey things down so they won't get me. It works a little, not a lot, but it'll have to do. I slip my head through, no problem. I get one leg mostly through, but from this angle it's impossible to bring in the other. Back under goes my head. I'm very thankful for my big coat, for without it the barbed wire on top of the fence would've destroyed me. So now my first leg is through. The second doesn't fit in the little hole of bent down spikes and has been speared so that my pants are caught. I can't keep going or my favorite jeans will rip. So I kick my shoe off and squeeze my toes around the fencing to stay on while I use my hands to free myself. Finally I unhook my pants from all caught parts and ducking back under, I free myself and jump down onto my suitcase. Thank God the fence wasn't turned on so I didn't get electrocuted.
Woo, I did it. Now that I think about it, crossing railroad tracks and hopping barbed fences was probably lowkey on my bucket list I've never written. I mean it's in like every movie; it's like a right of passage for livin in the middle of nowhere as a teenager. Well I live in the middle of nowhere and I'm kinda a teenager and I finally hopped a fence across the tracks and didn't go to jail. Looking down at myself, I check my body. Besides a little scratch on my hand, I think I got away scratch free. Awesome. Time to go to the koalas.
I'm walking and I'm walking. There's a sign on the road for some bandicott thing. What is that? Idk. Keep walking. Man I wish I brought that water bottle. Oh well. Keep walking. Are we almost there yet? Awe man. Another sign for that b thing; this one with a picture - a rat! AW NO! If I see a rat, I'm gonna scream so loud and jump so high imma land back in America! Ya girl does not do rats. Aw naw man. No way. Walk faster. Oh look, a brown sign. That's probably it. Keep going. You can do this. You did not just climb a barb fence to not get your pic with a koala. Keep walking.
Finally I'm there. Yes. Man this is a long driveway. Omg a wallaby! Two of them! Just chillin. How awesome. I keep walking. Finally I'm at the gate. I open the gate just to be greeted by two alpacas (llamas?). Amazing. I wish I could spend all day or at least a few minutes here but I'm already running way late. In, picture, out. So I don't stay to play with the animals and I go to the entrance to get my koala pic.
The lady takes me into some room to wait for her to bring me a koala. I see all the koalas, sleeping. I wish I was sleeping. I see her go get a eating koala and bring him to me. She makes me wear a vest then hands me eucalyptus and the koala. I don't appreciate wearing the vest because although it protects me from his claws, it totally covers up my shirt and I wore this shirt on purpose because I also wore it the last time I held a koala. It's my koala shirt (even tho it has a zebra on it). Man. Whatever. There's no real photographer/camera so the lady takes pictures for me on my phone. I've upgrade from just holding a koala to feeding a koala in the past 4 years. I take the eucalyptus into the same hand I'm holding Jimbo the koala in so I can take selfies with him. No offense to the lady but the selfies turned out better.
Okay great, I got my picture, now it's time to go. The lady at the desk is calling me a taxi while I try Uber again. Although I'm using the data charges, I have better luck this time and soon an Uber picks me up to rush me to the airport.
I don't like talking to people. That's not an unknown fact. But this guy is talking to me and it's nice. It's friendly talk and nobody's talked to me in so long. Then we get going well and no more talk. Man, my ankle hurts. Maybe the barbed wire did hurt me. Let me check. Nope, it's fine. We keep driving. A while later, my leg starts to hurt. Ah, my ankle was fine, must be mental.
Finally we make it to the airport. I already have my boarding pass on my phone (I knew I'd be late) so I just check my gate and go. There's not a soul in security. Lovely. I go through and the machine goes crazy. I've been selected for the random screening. Great. Why does this always happen to me? And always when I'm not a million hours early. But the lady knows I'm clean so it goes super fast and soon I'm at my gate.
The ATMs downstairs weren't working and I need money for my shuttle to Coral Bay, but thankfully there are two ATMs near my gate. The first one rejects both of my cards. The next finally works. Mmm I smell fried chicken. They feed us on Qantas, but if I see fried chicken, I'm gonna get some. Oh, what's Red Rooster? I check it out. It's like Australian not as good Chickfila! Yes! So I get a crispy chicken. I eat it all before we are called to board the flight.
As I'm eating, my leg continues to hurt. So I give in and check it. It's bleeding. Like kind of a lot. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. Score 1 for the fence. (Update 5 months later: there are scars on my leg. I'm very proud)



Once they announce boarding, we walk for what seems like forever to get to the plane. It's a 100, so quite small but larger than the one I took to Christchurch. The plane's not very full; I'm glad they didn't cancel it. They feed us meatball paninis, crackers, cheese, and drinks. The flight is less than two hours, domestic. & we get meals. I love Qantas!
I read about different ways to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef in my Qantas magazine in the seatback pocket. At Haggerstone Island, one of the private island way of enjoyments, the article talks about "but the family - which grew with the arrival of son Sam in 1994 and daughter Tasha three years later"! Uh, hi, hello. My name is Tasha and I was born three years after 1994. Man I have to go there and meet my twin one day.
Outside the windows I literally have desert to my right and tropics to my left. It's amazing. So cool. & I'm seeing all of Australia like I wanted to. We land and there's no signs of the tropical waters I saw from the sky but I know I'm going there.

For now, I am in the Great Australian Outback. No doubt. How cool man.
On the forever long drive to Coral Bay, we passed sheep, bush, rock, cows, bush, rock, grass. All seemingly endless. I don't know what the rocks were doing there/how they got there but I swear they're trolls, just like the ones from Frozen. They even looked alive! There were kool tho.
Then we got to Coral Bay. Our river gave us the tour before dropping us off at our accommodations because the whole town is one road, 300 metres long. We're literally a beach on the edge of the desert. How trippy, man.
I'm quite tired and this post seems quite long so I'll just make Coral Bay Day 1 it's own post.

2012 v 2016

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

All Blacks v Wales

Much like Hobbiton, you can't go to New Zealand without going to an All Blacks game. Also like Hobbiton, I'm not into rugby. Thankfully, like with Hobbiton, I was pleasantly surprised with how much fun it was.

Before the game a bunch of us chilled in Anastasia and Libby (and Aissa but she wasn't there)'s flat. Then when it was time to go we shared an Uber (well 2 ubers) so we only paid like $2 to get there. Then I went with my Uber's girls (Libby, Anastasia, and Celeste) to their seats. On the way in we got free boxes of chicken snack cracker things! Then Celeste was nice enough to walk me down to my seat so I wasn't all alone. The girls' seats were up in like high stadium seating. Mine was right on the field (it's just wrong for a cheerleader to not be right on the field/court). I felt like I was in high school again, getting ready for a game, wishing I had hot chocolate.

My whole row was empty so Celeste stayed down with me because (no offense) they were better seats than hers. We watched the players warm up and toss up while we prayed no one would come take the seats.

We watched the news reporters give their reports followed by the Wales national anthem. When it was New Zealand's turn, we sang along with the words on the screen. Then it was time for the Haka. My phone decided to stop working quite early, but I still caught a little, which you can see in my All Blacks video on my Facebook.

Then the game started. It reminds me a lot of football, with touchdowns and field goals and everything (okay not field goal, the extra point you get for kicking after a touchdown). But they also add some sick cheer moves that low key took our team foreverrr to do (where you lift by the thigh and not the foot or ground). It's a pretty sweet game.

About halfway through the first half a couple dudes came to sit next to us, but when the realized they were in the wrong section because there buddies weren't there, they left.

Halftime was lame. I expected a grand performance. 

After halftime I got a hot dog! It was so good and I wanted a hot dog so bad. Later Celeste got donuts and I had a couple, but they were too cinnamony for me. 

After the game, we attempted to find the others for like two minutes before we decided to start walking. Previously I had walked all the way to that area before and it was super nice out so we decided to just walk all the way back instead of getting another Uber. We only got lost once, and we found like a dozen Waldos.

Soon we were back in our rooms and I was ready to be asleep. Gotta get up early for Straya the next morn.

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

The Water Is Calling & I Must Go

You’re not a true water baby if you’ve never felt compelled by the water.

For weeks on my way home I’ve been trying my hardest to resist the urge to veer off course and head straight for the beach. Well tonight, that’s exactly what I did.

I had to satisfy my water craving. Not a craving like “oh I need to drink some water” like a “I have to go be in the water NOW and this time the bathtub just won’t do”. Besides, everyone’s already asleep anyways and to be honest, I’m not even sure I’ll be able to get in the house tonight. I didn’t tell them I was coming and I usually come back after I wake up on Fridays sometimes, so I might be locked out. But it’s okay; if I am, I’ll just come back and sleep on the beach.

So why am I typing and not just enjoying the beach, you ask? Well I got here, took the required snapchats to prove I was here (extra important tonight because my phone is pretty much dead and I’m all alone and my parents need to know where the last place I was if I go missing), then I put the phone away and just enjoyed the utter perfectness of the night. It was raining all day, so there are no stars out, and it’s a bit chilly from the wind, but it is still perfect. Any night at the beach is perfect.

So anyways, I was just taking it all in and enjoying my beach night when it occurred to me that I should write a post about it. And when the inspiration is there, it’s there. So I made the huge trek back up to my car to grab my laptop and here I am, typing to you. But have no fear, I don’t need to look when I type so I am still enjoying this beautiful view. In fact, I just saw an ambulance headed westbound over the bridge followed by a police car. It must happen quite often I would imagine, but it’s the first time in my life I’ve seen an ambulance cross the bridge, lights on.

Yes. It is November. Yes, I did go in the water. Yes, I am in Maryland. The current air temperature is 66 degrees Farinheight (oops spell check is off because no internet) and it’s 10:52pm. The water temperature does feel a bit chilly though, but you get used to it. I did go swimming on this same beach last Christmas day, after all. Maybe this part of the bay just doesn’t get super cold. Even the wind didn’t seem cold while I was wading in the bay, but now that I’m just sitting on the sand, I’m shivering.

It’s really dark because the moon is nowhere to be found and the clouds are coving the stars. There are trees blocking the beach from the grass and roads, keeping the lights practically nonexistent, which is great because I’m not here for the bright lights. It’s really cool seeing the lights on the Bay Bridge at night, and the towers across the bay remind me there is civilization. The Annapolis side is surprisingly dark though, with only minimal lights to the south of the flashing towers. The great orange glow from the city keeps me warm like the sun as the wind picks up. It also is the majority of the things allowing me to see.

I could sit here and watch the cars cross the bridge forever, and that’s what I’ve been doing for the past hour. With my feet in the water, the wind on my face, and the view of the bridge in plain sight, there’s no place I’d rather be. When I was younger, my dreams ALWAYS consisted of me miraculously crossing the bridge at night. Mostly by monkey bars under the bride. Sometimes other methods, just as insane (although if you ask me I’ll straight-faced tell you there ARE monkey bars under the bridge. I’ve been under many times via cruise ships, so you think I would know there isn’t, but I’m convinced). Then I’d always drop off at the end, either swimming in the bay on the western side or jumping on a cruise on the eastern side. I think those dreams making up pretty much every night of my childhood makes watching the bridge at night in real life that much greater.

Ya know, when I hadn’t been on a cruise in a while and I would get sick I would tell everyone I was land sick, that it had been too long since I was on a cruise. While I definitely was land sick (can’t keep a mermaid from her sea), I’m not so sure it was the cruises. Maybe I just needed to find my way back to the water.

After all the sea (or bay, or river, or lake, pretty much any water, but mostly oceans and seas and bays, ya know, stuff with salt) helps me get back to me.

Well I think I’m gonna enjoy this beach time a bit more then head on outta here before I catch hypothermia (prob shouldn’t be swimming in the Chesapeake Bay in November, but hey, what can ya do?), so I’ll catch ya on the flip side. Happy swimming ya’ll.

swimming with the dog
at Matapeake on
Christmas 

Until next time,

Xoxo,

Tasha

Tourism in the Caribbean

Okay, ya'll, I'm heated.
So yesterday was our Caribbean Student Union meeting (yes, we all know I'm not actually from the Caribbean - fun fact: you don't gotta be Caribbean to be part of CSU) and our topic of discussion was tourism in the Caribbean. Man, so I was excited right! Like yes, finally, something I actually know about because when I go to the Caribbean I'm a tourist bc I'm not from there. And I go there a lot. If ya'll didn't notice my many complaints about missing the Caribbean while I was abroad in New Zealand, it's like my favorite place on Earth.
So anyways. Crystal, the president of CSU, had to be somewhere else during the meeting so she left some other guy in charge and idk who he was but man, he was no Crystal. So he opens the discussion by asking people to name countries people go to when they go to the Caribbean. Not Caribbean Islands, COUNTRIES that people go to when they go to the Caribbean.
So of course I start naming off countries. Bahamas (that one is accepted and he repeats it). My second choice is Mexico. This gets a "No that's not in the Caribbean" and I'm like "uh yeah actually it has a part in the Caribbean along with it's Pacific and Gulf parts" and the guy is just like "No". Then I'm like okay, Turks & Caicos, Cayman Islands, Virgin Islands both US and British and he just ignores me and starts talking back over me when I get to the Virgin Islands. Obviously I can name a lot more but I just shut up because he's talking again so I sit there stewing.
I am so angry over this Mexico comment.
HERE'S A MAP OF THE CARIBBEAN:

Oh, look, what is that over on the left?? Oh yeah, MEXICO!!!!!
Like hun, you might know about whatever country you're from, but when we're talking about like general tourism to the Caribbean, please do not doubt I know what I'm talking about.
And the other people in the room seemed to be getting angry too because the rest of the discussion seemed to only focus on Jamaica when there are clearly many more countries than just Jamaica in the Caribbean.
But back to Mexico. If you look on the map, Mexico has more area in the Caribbean than a bunch of the smaller Caribbean islands put together, so why does that not count as having a Caribbean vacation spot? Cruising is a major form of tourism in the Caribbean and many cruise ships do indeed go to Mexico when they go to the Caribbean! Cozumel and Riviera Maya (Playa del Carmen, Tulum, etc) come to mind. Which, look, Cozumel is indeed a Caribbean island, but guess what country it's part of? MEXICO. Therefore, if Cozumel is a Caribbean island but is part of the country of Mexico, that must mean that Mexico does indeed have part of the country in the Caribbean!!!!
Plus uh, they have Mexico episodes of Caribbean Life (only the best show on television, catch it on HGTV), which obviously they wouldn't put it on Caribbean Life if it wasn't in the Caribbean. (Yes they also have Mexico Life for the other parts of Mexico, but there have been instances where one of the destinations on Caribbean Life have been Mexico.)
Oh my goodness I'm heated. Like don't tell me I'm wrong when I know that I'm not and I have facts to back it up, including, oh look, a MAP!
I bet if he had let me keep listing countries that have a section in the Caribbean he would've also told me I was wrong when I said Colombia or Venezuela, probably even Honduras. Maybe I should buy him a map.
But whatever, someone just needs to ship me off on a boat to my dearest Caribbean Mexico with a fruity little drink in my hand and it'll be all better.

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

PS. Sorry this post is really negative. The next one will most likely also be negative but then maybe they'll start picking up. 

Update

Hey ya'll
So I obviously didn't finish posting all my blog posts from New Zealand, but I do have a bunch written in a notebook somewhere so once I relocate that notebook I'll get those posted, then eventually I'll get around to writing the rest.
But a couple things have really been on my mind that I gotta blog out, so be on the lookout for those posts in the next coming days.
Also since I'm no longer in New Zealand I've changed the title of my blog to Travels with Tasha (gotta keep that alteration) but that's an awful title so if you have a better one, feel free to let me know in the comments below :)
Okay thanks ya'll

til next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

airplane thoughts

It's hard to write any of the 14 posts I have to write because all I can think about is my beloved Ocean City. Just 12 more days (only 9 more flights and 2 more finals) until I'm back on the beach in summer. I just came from Darwin (if I ever move to Australia, definitely my new vacation destination) where it felt like summer (at 91 degrees F) in the middle of winter. It was a much needed escape from the cold, but now I'm in desperate need of summer.
Lol tho, the drastic weather change destroyed my immune system and now my nose can't stop running and I can't catch it and I keep sneezing and my throat is killer and I'm covered in bruises. But it's back to freezing in 5 hours; it might make it better or it might kill me.
Okay maybe I'll start catching up on some posts now. Or maybe I'll just keep getting absorbed into my music (this flight has no tv, but it did have a meal, so good on ya, virgin)

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha 

Shine Bright like a Glowworm

Okay, it's literally humanly impossible to remember every detail of the posts I still have to write (11) and the ones I will need to do about this week (8), soo I'm going to attempt to get writing on some old posts I have to catch up on.
So the farthest one back is the glowworms, but I don't really feel like writing about them but it'll be the shortest because it was only like an hour and not that impressive so I guess I'll just start by doing my glowworm post.

I have to pee tho (I just did a tasting of like 12 beers) so hold up real quick tho. I'll write ya before I get on my tram tour tho, I promise.
Okay I'm back
So after Hobbiton we (the bus) went to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. So I wanted to do the black water rafting, but it was as expensive as Hobbiton and the glowworms, and Hobbiton was extremely expensive on it's own as well. So because I believed, as an American, Hobbiton was an essential part of New Zealand, I did the Hobbiton and Waitomo bus tour instead of doing black water rafting and Hobbiton separately for double the price. At the time I feel I was pretty okay with this, but then Celeste and friends did the blackwater rafting and it looked so fun. But oh well. I didn't have time for both anyways.
So after Hobbiton we went to Waitomo where we waited like 10 minutes for a tour guide. They told us we couldn't take pictures, but of course I tried anyways. First the guide took us into the caves where he explained to us about the stalactites and stalagmites and the limestone. I think it's so cool that the caves - the whole entirety of the caves - were once completely underwater. They're huge! Apparently, it makes for great acoustics. One of the guides had her wedding there, it makes it so good.
Then we went further into the cave where our guide explained about the glowworm life process, but thanks to Allison (I think, maybe it was one of the other girls, idk) I already knew a bit about it. Anywhos he took us further to tell us about their lives because we could see the 'fishing line' webs they use to catch their food here. It really does look like fishing lines! So cool.
So then we got on the boat for the glowworm cavern thingy, I forget what it's called. The place where there's a lot of them. Anyways I attempted to illegally take some pictures but my iPhone refuses to capture glowworms or stars or anything so it was all just black. But the glowworms looked just like stars but blue. Like lots and lots and lots of blue stars or tiny blue Christmas lights. I think I thought they looked like Christmas lights first before It thought they looked like stars. But like little dotty ones. But yeah.
We weren't actually in the glowworm grotto (that's what it was called) long but we couldn't talk and the silence (except for the drip drip of the cave) was deafening. Then after we got off the boat we could take pictures so I got one of the outside of the cave.
Then we went to the gift shop where I got Autumn a postcard because when we were fantasizin about if she would come to New Zealand the glowworms were at the top of her list of what she wanted to see. Would've been better if she was there but oh well.
I still had time before I had to get back on the bus so I got an ice cream. Then we headed back for Auckland.

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

Slightly Smaller Than Hobbit Sized

Don't tell, but I still haven't actually seen the Lord of the Rings movies....I tried to watch the first one on the flight over here but I fell asleep about forty minutes into it. I did watch the first Hobbit movie tho, if that counts. But, being in New Zealand, it would have been very un-New Zealand of me to not go to Hobbiton. Since I'm not that invested in it and it was quite expensive, I didn't really want to go and was simply going because (as I just mentioned) I had to because I was in New Zealand, but I was pleasantly surprised.
On the way to Hobbiton, our bus driver gave great commentary on the areas we were passing. Sometimes he would pause, like to breathe, and in my head I would guess what was next and when I did that I was mostly right. It was nice because it made me feel smart about New Zealand and the Auckland area even tho I've spent like 0 time in Auckland (turns out I'm not really that big into cities - score 1 for daddy).
Hobbiton is located on the Alexander farm with 13,000 sheep and 400 cows. I really liked that it was on the Alexander farm because Uncle Danny's family is the Alexanders and I know they're probably most definitely not related but it's still cool.
So we had a tour guide that took us around Hobbiton and showed us all the Hobbit holes and gave us lots of Hobbiton trivia knowledge, so next Carnival Hobbiton trivia I totally got. Bring on the ships on the sticks.

Did you know they originally planned on filming on 12 different farms but the giant tree for the party scene (or wait maybe it was the lake) made them decide to only use the Alexander farm?
After the Lord of the Rings finished filming, the set was supposed to be destroyed so it could go back to being a farm again but a giant storm made them postpone destruction. While they were waiting it out a bunch (well 8 not really a bunch) of locals recognized the area from the movie and came to tour it and the Alexanders decided they could make money from tourists so they had them rebuild the set with stronger-longer lasting materials so they could give tours. Also the whole hobbit trilogy only took 12 days to film, but the set took over 2 years to put together.
The Hobbit holes were quite large. They had varying sizes but a lot of them I could easily fit in. Like the very first one we saw was very large. We couldn't go in it but I took a selfie to show my shortness with it.
The one I'm pictured in above I'm standing on a step in so I'm actually even smaller.
Also fun fact it wasn't raining but I hadn't worn my rain boots yet and I really wanted to wear them and it rained the day before so I wore them anyways.
Five hobbit holes were built just for the Hobbit trilogy. They're in the distance and small and were only used in case the camera shot too wide so it would look like the village continued instead of just farm.
There's also the oak tree above the famous hobbit hole and there are no oak trees in New Zealand so they had to build this tree. It's made of metal and the leaves are 5 shades brighter green than the natural stuff because the camera darkens it. But my eyes already have never seen such bright greens before so to me I couldn't tell the difference between the tree leaves and the grass but to like people who can see that brightness it's 5 shades lighter. Even tho it's totally fake it even fools the birds who often make nests in it.
So then after our tour we went to the Green Dragon for drinks. The sign says they ID unless you look over 25 and they didn't ID me and I don't think I look that old... If I do then when I'm really 25 I'll look over 30! Ew. So not down for being old, man.
Then after drinks we went to this party tent for our lunch and I was expecting like a sandwich on the bus but we got a full big buffet with like real meat and everything. My meat was dry and chewy but it was still meat so I tried my best to eat it. It was nice.

Then we got back on the bus to head to the glowworms (which has its own post so be patient my dears).

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

The Chicken and Waffle Fail that wasn't really a fail at all

May 25
Today started out as a normal day. I went to class. I didn't remember a thing I read in the business strategy book. That's when things took a turn for the better.
I got a 4/5 on my business strategy quiz. That was very pleasing to me because the past couple quizzes I've only been getting 2/5 even tho I read the stupid chapter before every class, sometimes more than once. Then class got out early so I went to meet Celeste and Sarah to go to Chicken and Waffles! I was so excited because I love chicken and waffles (just ask my mother).
So I go chill in front of Subway and Sarah comes and tbh I thought it was just gonna be Celeste so I was glad to see Sarah because I haven't hung out with her in a while. Celeste is late, as usual, but it's fine and soon we're going to Orleans for Chicken and Waffles.
Then we get there and we meet up with Libby! Yay more people!
So we sit at the table and place our order and everything then a different waitress comes up and asks us for IDs even tho no one is getting any alcoholic stuff. Everyone except Sarah has theirs, but we're not gonna make Sarah leave by herself so we all leave and we go to Better Burger. I've never had it before but apparently it's like the best. I thought it was just okay but whatever.
It was nice catching up with Sarah and Libby because they were telling me about all these things happening within our Loyola group dynamics that I didn't know about because I'm like halfway antisocial but really everyone is just antisocial towards me and it's all their fault and not mine. But anyways so yeah now I'm a little more in the loop with events up until yesterday.
Then Sarah leaves because she has class at 3. Libby, Celeste and I just chill at Better Burger because I'm not up for the walk back and I guess they weren't either. So then we're talking right and all of a sudden Libby stops mid sentence and her jaw drops and she's just staring and we're like "what are you staring at" and she's like "that's Max Key, the Prime Minister's son!" so we wait over at Better Burger for a little bit more then we go over to the bar where he is and we're just like talking about famous people and such and Libby's like "today is his birthday" so she googles it while we're finishing our drinks (cider for me, rose for Libby, water for Celeste) and I'm watchin as like other people are coming up to him and such then when everyone else but his bestie and him have left, Libby finishes her drink and goes to talk to him. They take a super cute dog filter snapchat selfie then she invites Celeste and I to join. So we're like "happy birthday!" and we just chill for like 10 minutes with Max and his friend, Marty. Marty is in the band Jupiter Project and he put us on his snapchat story, so we're like lowkey not really almost famous now. So then we get our selfies and let him be because we have to go to class now too.

Max Key

Marty from Jupiter Project

So then I get to where my class is and I'm sitting there because I'm early and I'm just chillin on my phone then it's like class time but it still seems empty so I look around and there's literally no one there so I check my email and class was canceled so I go back to my room and watch How To Be Single and skip my next class because it's pouring and I'm not walking there. But then the management teacher put our essay grades in and I didn't fail even tho she hates me so that's good.
So I'm just chillin til tonight because Celeste and I are going to 1885. So then the time comes and I get ready and I'm like what do I wear because it's pouring so I can't wear my leather or my suede and that's like my whole life so I'm like ahh what do I wear now so then I put on this like H2O worthy outfit and it's totally cute and I'm totally gonna wear it lots this summer and the top makes me look tan.
So then Celeste and I go to 1885 and Max and Marty are there. Max takes 21 shots because it's his 21st and like everyone was snapchating it and such, and it now occurs to me that Marty didn't change his clothes from earlier haha. So then Marty goes and hangs with these girls and Max is just like chillin with his buds and such and Celeste and I are just chillin too. And then finally more people come because it was like empty.
Then the first person buys me a drink. Took long enough. Then I'm like okay done with you. Then I'm like "Celeste that guy is gonna buy me the next drink" and he kept like staring and coming closer but he never like legit approached me. Chicken. Until we were walking back to the flat then he drives by and he's like "hey!" and I'm just like don't hey me you owe me a drink but I'm really just like "hey!". But anyways after that first one we were like okay who's next and it was fun guessing who would come up next. Like every time except for that one guy I was right, but no one else bought me drinks they just came up to us and didn't buy us drinks. Whatever .

Then Max requests Soulja Boy and then he comes next to us and we all Crank That together. It was fun. Then he leaves and I keep playing my who's next game which is also super fun. Then this guy from Sydney comes up and he's like "my friend is into rugby and he does like some blue thing and he wants to dance" and obvi he means like the Auckland Blues but I'm just like lol
so yeah musicians, sons, rugby players, yolo
& Celeste met this guy from New York. Oh and there was this guy from Canada ! he was cool .
Okay so like before soulja boy I think (maybe after, idk) they played Hips Swing so I'm gonna swing right and so this guy was like yeah I can dig it and he was like hip bumping like you're supposed to do but his girl was like right there! like if this were America I wouldn't be alive to tell the story. but it's not america so that's good.
Speaking of America, everyone here finds it so hard to believe I'm from there. Like idk why. Whatever.
Oh also Max is the second person in my entire life to not hang out with me at the club when I want them to (Jesse was the first, still a bit bitter over that) but I guess we did soulja boy together so maybe that counts...
But we didn't end up leaving with an invite to his super fancy celebrity party on Saturday but I won't be in Auckland anyways so I guess it's okay...not really. but whatever.
So then Celeste and I go back to the flat and like we stop in Burger King because there's lots of people and it's a bunch of people from the club and they start like almost fighting and I called it way before any of the Burger King staff caught on and that's why I need to be at H2O .

my cider came in a jar!

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

May 27 Update:

Max is in my class. I was all excited for nothing lol if only I had been more social throughout the semester we could've been best friends because he's been in my class since February. Oh well, that's what I get for being anti-people. But now it makes sense that when we were all like "oh what do you study" he was like "same as you" lol oops 

18 and Life

I've been waiting for this post since before I came to New Zealand because I'm v excited about the title. The title is the only reason there is a post for this, but
18 days left until my flight back to America.
So in honor, here is the song that inspired this post:

See ya in 18 days, Murica.
Oh wait before I go, everytime I watch this video I'm like "man why do these boys always have better hair then me" then one day I realized they were called HAIR bands for a reason....so yeah. :P

30 Days

May 28
Today I'm on a flight to the South Island. 30 days from now I'll be on a flight to America. This is my 15th flight since starting this study abroad journey and I have 18 more flights booked in the next 30 days before I'm home. I would try to count the cities as well (I don't always fly places) but I just can't - there are too many.
I've gotten better about my plane sickness that seemed to appear and disappear with the first few months of being sent into the great unknown alone. I guess it just took my body a little while to remember cruisin isn't the only way to get places; sometimes you just gotta fly. Spread your winds like a bird and just ride the wind like the breeze is the sea.
I'm tired. Carmen and Camille wanted to go out last night but I stayed in because I was tired and I'm still tired. I've been doin lots of runnin (not literally, everyone knows I don't run) but I'm on the last leg and I can't stop now. Next week all but 2 of my classes were cancelled and those two are optional so hopefully I'll catch up on my sleep then. Or not. We'll see. Ain't no rest of the wicked.
Also I'm really sick of NZ airlines not feeding us. Like hello, where are your manners? Uh whatever.
Also I don't understand why everyone thinks I'm a kiwi. Like I'm hanging out with a bunch of Americans, why would I be a kiwi when you know none of them are? I think it's maybe cause they don't know where my accent is from because even people in America don't know where my accent is from unless they're from Maryland or Delaware. But like they act so shocked when they find out I'm American and I'm like why are you so shocked?
Speaking of American, it's so weird how people don't know what the States are and you gotta say you're from American. In school I was always taught to never say I'm from America; I'm from the United States. Because all of Central and South America and Canada are from America too, so when asked I gotta say the US. But here if you say the US, they just look at you like you have 7 heads then they'll be like "America??" and then I'm like "yeah" but it feels so wrong because I was taught not to just say America but otherwise they don't understand. And they also don't know what DC is. They call it Washington, not Washington DC, and I'm sure like 60% of them are thinking of Washington State because they ask if it's in the west near California. The only places they know are Cali and New York so instead of trying to explain how I'm right next to DC I've learned to just say I'm 4 hours south of New York (which doesn't help but I don't care). Also they refers to any non-America I've talked to the past 4.5 months. Lots of Australians, Brits, Scots, and Germans.
Yo I'm hungry but I refuse to buy overpriced airline food on such short flights. I miss my beloved Southwest and their free peanuts and/or crackers/pretzels/chips and drinks.
Ah well. 30 days left. I can do it.

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

Flying to Fiji

Just a warning, this is gonna be a very negative post because Fiji Airways SUCKS MAJOR

Okay so story time (in a New Jersey/New York Italian guy accent bc idk why just because). Once upon a time, Fiji Airways was recommended to me by several parties for my flights to and from Fiji. Okay cool they're cheapest anyways. So I book my flights, the going and the return. It's all good. Then I get an email maybe like 5 days before my flights, eh idk maybe more point is it was close. So they say they cancelled my flight and put me on a later one for the next day. But that's not cool man because the next day I got a final I gotta be in Auckland for. So I email em back and I'm like yo change my flight (but nicer of course) and they're like sorry man no and I'm like yo I gotta be in Auckland I got a final you gotta change it man. And they're like call me. And I'm like no. And they don't help me. We send about 12 emails, no joke man. Still no help. I post on the facebook and I'm like yo you suck you cancel my flight and don't help me. Oh I forgot to mention in the emails I was like fine if you don't wanna change it just give me my money back and I'll book with someone else and they're like no refunds and we'll charge a cancel fee (but they're the ones that cancelled on me!). So I was a very angry. And they're not helping me. And the facebook page messages me and they're like 'yo let us help you' and I'm like please! and they still don't help. So my momma calls them bc she's a doll and they say they fix it then they send me another email saying it still ain't fixed. Then she calls again and gets it sorted or maybe she had to call a third time. Then they send me an email saying badda bing badda boom it's fixed. Then the facebook page message me again and they're like yo you gotta call us if you want help and I'm like yo I already told you it was fixed. They don't even communicate the email group and the facebook group and the phone group. So i don't really know if it's fixed or not but imma go with it.
okay back to english now.
So I get to the airport and there's no problems and I'm waiting for my plane and I'm sitting across from these two beautiful humans which is important because they'll come up in the story for the next day because fate man, and anyways they're cute but I'm tryin not to stare bc some people think I got a staring problem bc I'll zone out and it'll look like I'm staring at you but these guys were cute so it wouldn't be zone out it would be I'm staring at you bc you are fine. So they got these red passports and I'm like oh that's not english or spanish I wonder where you're from. So I chew on that then 40 minutes after we were supposed to board we go get in line to board and I'm in line before them and I think no more of them.
Then we get on the plane and there's a problem with the flight. 6 seats are double booked and there's only 2 empty seats in first class. 2 of the overbooked seats were right next to me so I was wondering if mine would be double booked too but it wasn't. I don't know what they did with the extra people but we sat on the plane for an hour and a half while they tried to figure it out.
I was a little freakin because my taxi guy was supposed to get me at 3:55 at the airport and now we were like two and half hours late and idk if he would wait but oh well nothing I can do
I watched the first three episodes of season two of the Flash instead of writing more blog posts. Oops.
So the guy that won the seat next to me in the double booked war was a new pilot for Fiji Air from Switzerland. He worked with some other airline for 10 or 30 years idk and he was nice. I do not blame him for Fiji Air sucking.
I was sad about being late to the airport but I was even more sad that I was gonna miss a Fiji sunset because they were supposed to be the best in like all the world. Then Mr. Pilot dude asks if I wanna trade seats with him so I could be at the window but I'm like no I'm okay but then I realize that WE ARE THE SUNSET. So like I can't look out the window at the real sunset because I didn't trade seats because I didn't realize what/why he was asking but then I saw like the reflections on the wings and we were like super colorful and I should've taken him up on his offer but i didn't realize but oh well
So then the sun is already down when we land.
But they're like "if you're connecting to Honolulu run to our staff so you make the flight" and I'm just like OMG ARE YOU KIDDING ME because Bethany Hamilton is in Fiji and idk when she's going back to Hawaii but if she was on that flight and we got there earlier I might've seen her and it would've made my life to meet Bethany. Like I was so upset. She prob wasn't even on that flight; they prob have Hawaii flights every day, but still. The thought that she could possibly be literally within like 50 feet from me and I missed her is very upsetting. I woulda tried to detour to go check but they were very like hawaii boarding passes only and such.
So then I'm in line in customs and I see the pretty boys again and they're way behind in line so sucks to be them.
So then I get out to the waiting area and the guy with my name sign is like "I've been waiting here for 3 hours!!!" (our flight only landed 2 hours late, thanks tail wind) and I'm like "my flight was delayed. not my fault" and he was weird and kinda creepy and lol thank God for best friends like Patrick because I used him as a fake boyfriend but I'm sure he wouldn't mind.
Then we finally get to the dock and I get on the ferry boat thing and Fiji has literally no lights and it's so dark and I've never seen so many stars in my life. Like when I told Autumn the glowworm caves looked like stars, I wasn't kidding. I felt like I was in the caves again. Like I thought we had lots of stars at home being in the woods and such but I guess Ocean City and Baltimore are too close because they're literally nothing like I'm ashamed to think that that was a lot of stars because it wasn't. I should've taken a picture but honestly I didn't even think to because I was so in the moment. We were goin through this river and it was like all trees and such on the sides and it was all fishy and it reminded me of home and it would've been perfect to just stop the boat and go night fishing but i couldn't and that was sad but it was a nice boat ride and i liked it. & there were jumping fish, like a lot of them. I wonder if there was a shark hunting them that we couldn't see but it was cool to see all the jumping fish and the boat ride was nice and i'm glad it was at night because it wouldn't have been the same during the day and it wouldn't be as nice.
Then we got to the island and they show me my room and take me to dinner because I just made it in time and it was beef and vegetables on mash just like I make in the microwave. I might only be able to eat microwaveable and raw foods due to my lack of domestic skills but apparently that means I can still eat good.
So then they're all like movie time and we're all like no bonfire so they make a bonfire for us. There's a German couple, Stella and Marcus, and a Canadian couple. The Canadian couple really isn't Canadian tho, I feel they're more homeless, tho nomad would probably be a more appropriate term, because apparently they're literally always traveling and they travel the world on their boat. They're those people you hate to meet that literally do nothing but brag about where they've been and what they've done. Like I've been and done a lot of things/places but you don't hear me bragging every chance I get (this blog is different because that's literally the purpose of this blog). Ugh it just irks me. That might be my new least favorite kind of people.
So then the worker dudes find out I'm not gonna be here for the fire show because I leave right quick so he's like "i'll teach you how to fire dance" so then I fire dance, yay! (see opening picture)
that was super cool and i'm v grateful he decided to show me fire dancing and let me try. I'm like a real islander now.
then we chill at the fire some more and then I go back to my room. I'm in a cute little bungalow I forgot to take a picture of but you open the door and there's the bed and that's it because it's small and cute and it has a leaf roof and it's like I always thought I would be fine living in - a little shack on the beach with nothing but like a bed but i've decided i'm too much of a princess and i need a real house, but it can still be on a beach.

nope, not on this island

until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

Blog Cancelled

Apparently my posts are too unhappy for my readers so therefore my bog has been cancelled and you'll receive no more updates from me.
Guess you'll miss out on hearing about my times in Wellington, Hobbiton, Waitomo, Dunedin, the Catlins, Invercargill, Fiji, Adelaide, Perth, Coral Bay, Darwin, Sydney, Canberra, and Samoa. So sorry.
Have a nice life.

I ain't lion; I'm not a cheetah!

Wrapped up in Wellington

Waiting for Wellington

My morning started off very bad. Like I wrote a solid 4.5 pages on how bad my day was going, all before noon, but I'm not gonna type it out for ya because they're my problems not yours. Included in those pages tho are how my Uber driver left me like a mile from where I had to be in the pouring rain, my smoothie tasted like stuff I would not eat, and my flight got delayed. It was not off to a good start.
So then when we finally got in the air, it was only a 45 minute flight to Wellington. We fell out of the sky for a few hundred feet and I thought we were gonna die. But we made it.

My face with the pool being overrun
by children.

None of the ATMs would accept any of my cards. I tried all cards at all ATMs and none of them would give me money. So then I just used a card for a cab to the hotel and since the flight was all delayed, it was too late to really go do anything because it was almost dark and the hotel is like way uphill so no way am I gonna be walking up and down to town. There was no wifi either so I had to use my data so I tried to plan out what else to do besides my seal safari as quick as I could. Unfortunately it was a little too quick and I still had an hour before the restaurant would be open for dinner. So I just chilled. I thought of writing some of my way overdue blog posts but I just couldn't because my head hurt because I was having a rough week.
Then finally it was time for dinner so I go to the restaurant. I got the ribs because apparently pork is my new favorite food along with fried chicken (jk we all know I love all meats and fishes) but the ribs didn't make me feel any better so I had to take the rest back to my room because I was done being at the restaurant.
So then I went to the swimming pool but it was overrun by 7-12 year olds so I went in the sauna and hoped they would leave soon but they had big buckets of KFC and they had more of their friends join them every couple minutes and they lasted way longer than I lasted so I went back to my room and took a warm shower because the room was freezing and I don't think the heat was working but idk how to work their heating systems here because it seems no matter what I do they don't work.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

My face after eating my ribs,
barely any bbq sauce on it

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha