I have the incredible opportunity to study abroad in New Zealand Winter 2011. It is a program through the education program at BYU. I am THRILLED for all the adventures to come :)

Saturday, January 8, 2011

BEACH :)

BEACH DAY! Today was amazing. I LOVE the beach…as in it is probably my favorite place. So the fact that I spent the day at a beach…in New Zealand…in the middle of “winter”…was incredible. Such a happy day.

We started off with a good run…Sheryl said we joked about being surprised with the 5 kilos we’ll gain if we indulge in all NZ treats, but don’t worry, we’re staying very active J. When we got back they made us a “delicious” breakfast of vegemite on toast. I honestly hope I never have to eat another vegemite breakfast. It’s not horrible, but it just isn’t something I would ever willingly choose to eat. To give those of you who haven’t tried vegemite an idea of what it’s like, toast a piece of break, put some butter on it, and then cover it with salt. I know there’s more to the vegemite than salt, but that’s all I taste. Bleh.

The whole group went to Orawa beach today. It was so much fun for us all to go together and spend some time with everyone. The water was absolutely freezing when we first got in, but after the initial dunk, it was practically magical. We swam, we body surfed, we boogie boarded, we had mud fights, we took a lovely walk down the beach, we wrote our names in the sand, we found cool shells, we got our tan on (or at least tried to without getting burned), we made human pyramids, we jumped, we laughed, and, of course, we took lots and lots of pictures :)

During our picturesque walk along the beach, we saw some guys jet skiing. Naturally, we stopped and watched because it looked like so much fun…and we were desperately hoping they would talk us for a ride. Well we waited for a while, wishing and hoping, and then our chance came. One of the guys came up on shore and got off his jet ski. Jess, who wanted a ride most, asked him if there was any way he would take us on a quick ride. To which he emphatically responded, “No.” When we asked why, he looked at and rudely responded because we didn’t pay for it. I’m sure he also thought, “stupid American girls…” (or as Dr. Jacobs repeatly called us the yesterday, “American BYU princesses…”). haha Oh well, it was worth a shot!

When the sun and ocean had wiped us out, we made our way back to East Massey with Dr. Jacobs and his wife, Linda. My favorite part of the ride was when we all saw a big sign that read, “Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream.” As soon as Dr. Jacobs saw it, he said, “Ooo, would you all be offended if I stopped here to try that?” To which his wife replied, “This on top of the two ice creams we tried at the beach?” But, of course we couldn’t tell him no since he was already pulling up to this tiny trailer parked at the gas station. He said he would run out to get some and bring us back a try so we could see if we wanted to buy some. A few minutes late, however, he came back with lots of bowls for us all to have some. It was SO good. I love strawberries. I love ice cream. And this NZ strawberry ice cream did not disappoint. Loved it J

After dinner tonight, Anna and I made our way over to Phyllis’ house (Jess and Christine’s home stay). We started off painting our toe nails, while Phyllis worked on her cross stitch. Jess jokingly asked if she wanted us to paint her toenails too, and Phyllis surprisingly answered that she had never painted her toenails before! Well, that was just unacceptable, so Jess had the honor of painting Phyllis’ toes for the time ever. We painted ours a bright neon coral-ly color, but Phyllis didn’t like it as much as we did and settled on a much more conservative pink. It was so cute to see this little old lady get a little pampered. Precious. She then was quite the little hostess and made us all Milo, which was supposed to be like hot chocolate, but let me just set the record straight and tell you that it did not taste like the hot chocolate I’m used to! We thought it might be better with more flavoring, but Christine put in a whole other scoop and it didn’t help. One top of the bitter, watery drink, we also had some “Christmas cake”, which we found out to be some very unique fruitcake. Needless to say, it was an interesting (and by interesting I don’t mean tasty) little treat. But we all drank/ate it with smiles on our faces because Phyllis seemed so pleased. After chatting a bit about her life, she rummaged through her closet and eventually pulled out the movie, Sister Act. The only time I have seen Sister Act was at my grandparents’ house, but I think I was too young to really remember/appreciate it. Watching it with Phyllis this time, I appreciated it much more and I know I will remember it, especially with Phyllis laughing at funny parts and repeating the funny lines with us. Adorable. We sure love Phyllis!


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