i have sand in my crack

New Zealanders are definitely the nicest people there are. I was told that this was the case on several occasions but I most recent outing greatly affirmed it.

One of the beaches in the South Pacific.

Yesterday we decided to head to the beach, it being summer time here and all. Having been recommended Akaroa bay we jumped in the Vista and headed towards Bank's Peninsula to see what we might find. After a breathtakingly beautiful drive over a couple of mountain passes with ocean vistas we arrived in the town of Akaroa. Although very beautiful, it was quite touristy and wasn't quite what we were looking for. After we had had our fill of fish and chips we decided to head towards some more remote beaches to see if we could find a place to camp.

We found ourselves in the Peninsula's countryside surrounded by sheep. We met some of these sheep farmers via wandering onto their property (likely to get you shot in most places) and every farmer that we met was more than generous. I have decided that I want to be a sheep farmer here in New Zealand because they are just the happiest people I have ever come across. They were more than happy to stop what they were doing to help us figure out where we could camp, give us directions, enquire about our trip, call up their friends, and give us permission to hop their fences and walk on down to their beaches. Chris, Pinecone (nickname affectionately given by Chris) and I spent last night in the sand on one the most amazing beaches I have ever been on.

Sunken Car Beach.

I have a lot to learn from the Kiwi pace of life. They are never in too much of a hurry to stop and oblige a question, tell about their favorite spots, or just have a little chat. Without fail they ask us about where we are from, where we are headed, and what we think of their fair country. They are never conceited, rushed, short, crass, or rude and I love them. I have been quite surprised at the receptiveness to us. I guess I assumed that they would be less than excited to have us romping around on their land doing the tourist thing, but instead they are quite excited to tell stories and show us their incredible countryside.

We have 5 of our 6 flatmates. I am very excited to write about each of them, but that will come later. If you are reading this and not emailing me please do so, I really want to hear what all of you are up to. Also, I am learning how to format the pictures...hopefully it will be better next time.

Magicians, Islanders, Toyota Vistas and Bird Poop

I am without an internet connection for at least the next two weeks so I may have very few posts (please don't take me off your list Bryce). We have made it to Christchurch after only 40 hours of traveling and it was worth every step I took with all 200 pounds of luggage. So far it has been completely amazing. The area is absolutely beautiful--green trees, flowers, and actual grass abound, something I have missed dearly since the first blizzard of 06. I spent most of today downtown meeting some interesting folks--street performers, artists, and even a man who reads from Isaiah as he walks around. I am pleasantly surprised with the cultural melting pot the Christchurch is and am very excited about the people I will meet and the experiences that I will have. I will begin posting photos as soon as I can get internet at my apartment. New Zealand is very photogenic and they have an affinity for architecture that I wasn't expecting. Also, Chris and I bought a car, it took us a whole 22 hours to get one.

Like a virgin, blogged for the very first time...

I spent several hours searching the internet trying to figure out exactly how smoke signals work. Through a combination of fire, smoke, and some sort of covering one can send plumes of smoke into the air in order to communicate with someone hundreds of miles away. However, it turns out that this would be fairly difficult to view from Longmont, Bozeman, Waco, Ft. Collins, Agua Prieta, Boulder, Denver, or wherever else my friends and family are. Frustrated I considered courier dolphins, messages in bottles, pirates, and/or stowaways on cargo ships to relay my messages from New Zealand to the various people in the countries they reside in (thank you Boeke for living in Mexico). All of these options seemed interesting but unreasonable. Frustrated I considered not going at all until my good friend Bryce suggested a weblog. Eureka! So Chris, my heterosexual partner in crime and I have decided to use weblogs to relay our experiences, thoughts, lamentations, photos, et cetra while abroad. You can view Chris' blog at http://darkenednightskies.blogspot.com/. I am fairly sure that the only people reading this blog will be those whose lives I want to hear about, so all of you please email me stories about your happenings to Ehaagenson@msn.com. On deck for us is a 24 hour, two-day (because New Zealand is a day ahead) travel extravaganza. I am immediately going to flush a toilet when we get to Fiji and I will divulge my findings in my next post.