Christchurch, NZ -- DAYS 4 & 5

Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken so long to write about the last couple days of my trip. I didn't end up getting on the internet for a few days.

DAY 4 --> Woke up early, went to The Coffee Shop (AGAIN!..yumm!) to get some hot chocolate. It was SO COLDDDD, and rainy! :( We set out on the road. Today we were going to go on a mini roadtrip! We were really bummed that it was raining like crazy though. We started driving the inland scenic route. Rain turned to sunshine, and a small town turned into a vast countryside. I was in heaven. I fulfilled my lifelong dream. Well, this dream can and will be fulfilled numerous times, and that was driving through the country with no agenda, and stopping to take pictures wherever. Geez, Amy Hirschmann, you need to get your butt down here so we can do this together sometime! Anyways, our destination was a small town called Geraldine. And super small it was!! But we ate in this little bakery and then the rain came. We went to a little chocolate shop, where they handmake the finest chocolates - alot of Belgium chocolate! It was so good!! Then we headed back. I drove us there, and Lydia drove us back. We set out on the road and Lydia started talking to me and I could feel myself dosing off. I finally fell asleep and slept for most of the way home. Then we got McDonalds (of all the places...I know, I know...but it was the easiest and the cheapest. we didn't want to have any more repeats of having trouble finding dinner and McDonald's is open late), and went back to our room to watch Get Smart. I was so glad I had some movies on my computer, otherwise it would have cost us $20 per movie!! Blah! So yeah, thanks Jionte for those movies last semester!

DAY 5 --> Woke up early. Went to a Coffee Shop called "The Globe". It was so cool! Very different atmosphere - felt more artistic, as the others felt more cozy and home-y. I had a bowl - yes, a BOWL of Chai Latte! Granted, it was a smaller bowl, but it was still pretty massive. I loved it! Lydia had a bowl of Mocha Java. Then we headed to the car place, dropped off Sunny, and they took us by shuttle to the airport. Thank goodness they did, because by that time, it was sleeting outside. It was FREEZZINNNNNGGGG! We saw a girl at the airport who was a college student and who was headed back on our flight to Sydney too! It was crazy...totally a God thing, because we got a ride with their ride! What would you know? - exactly two seats left! :)

Now it's back to college and assessments. I am currently working on a REALLY long assessment right now, but it is causing me to reevaluate my priorities and think about what my long term goals are in life. (That's part of the assessment) I kind of get freaked out sometimes, because I'm not sure where I'm going and what God has put me on this earth to do - it's like I have so many passions that just don't seem to go together, yet I know somehow they will. I'm trusting, but as I go into 2nd year, I'm starting to ask God to reveal to me what He wants me to do next.

Anyways, here are some pictures from the trip:

Christchurch, NZ -- DAY 3

Day 3 --> Woke up. Went to a small coffee house, VERY CUTE! I got a hazelnut hot chocolate and spanish frittata for breakfast. The frittata was okay, but the hot chocolate was AMAZING! Today was surprisingly colder than the rest. After the coffee house, we took a gondola ride up this mountain. It was like a ski lift, just enclosed and the seats faced opposite each other. It took us up this mountain where we were able to take pictures. We saw the snow-capped southern alps, including Mt. Hutt (a well-known snow-skiing location). It was beautiful, it was cold! Then we went punting down the Avon River. We're staying at a hotel on the Avon River right now, fyi. Ha, so it was beautiful! It was a 30 minute ride on a cute little boat with this guy using a pole to steer us along the river (kinda like what you'd imagine in Italy). There were ducks along the river (everywhere!!) and it was EVEN COLDER! Clouds were coming, and thankfully it didn't start raining til we got on the road! Anyways, we came back and took a nap and now we just got back from a restaurant called "The Hungry Mariner". It was really good! That's all for now. Going travelling a bit tomorrow. Until then!

P.S. -- here are some pictures from days 1 and 2:

>IT FINALLY LOOKS LIKE FALL...COLOURED LEAVES!!!


CHRISTCHURCH IS SO PRETTY:



THE FAMOUS CHRISTCHURCH CATHEDRAL--BEAUTIFUL!!!



(i want to upload so much more, but this in itself has taken me about 20 minutes. VERYYYYYYYYYYY slowwwwww internet....it sucks!)

Christchurch, New Zealand: DAYS 1 AND 2

I tried writing yesterday on this blog but it wouldn't work. I'm currently at the Holiday Inn in Christchurch, New Zealand. When the site said that the rooms included "internet", I assumed (as any American would) that it meant free wireless internet in the room. Nope, there was a cord attached to the wall. Okay, no big deal. But when we plugged it in, it said that you had to pay money for 2 hours....and it wasn't like you could pay and you get two hours of credit, it's like the time expires after two hours. I'm not going to be on the internet for 2 hours on my holiday, so I'm just downstairs in the hotel lobby, where I can get 20 minutes of internet for $2. So I have a limited time, and I won't write much. Basically, we've had a great time thus far! It's been quite an adventure, I must say.

DAY 1 --> Arrive in Sydney, went to Avis (Car Rental that I booked with via airline), Airline lied to me and I couldn't get the car we booked because we're under 21 (SO CLOSE...POO!). We found a car rental place for anyone 18+. Got a white Mitsubishi (...here's the best part...) Sunny! Drove to hotel. Went to find a Mexican restaurant (it's been so long since I've had some!), got lost. Found a parking garage, got locked in the parking garage (..a story to tell the children one day...it's kinda a "never in a lifetime" kinda thing to happen..yeah, the doors actually shut as we were in there...we watched them shut. SCARY), called help line in garage, waited on help line about 45 minutes, no one helped me (lie 2! -- lie one was the one that said "public parking", lie 2 was "help line") after being transferred 4 times. Car came in, hung up on "help" line, person in car helped us get out with her security pass. Off to Mexican. Got lost going to Mexican. Found it, sat down, enjoyed. The end.

DAY 2 --> Woke up late (Lydia forgot to set her phone to NZ time..hehe), got out an hour and a half later than planned, tried to find a cafe with free internet that I had seen in a brochure. Got lost (..are you seeing a theme emerging here?) for a long time. Found cafe. Cafe booked. Tried to steal internet from outside. Couldn't see the computer screen because the sun was so bright and internet didn't work (found out later i had just accidentally switched off my WLAN signal (fancy lingo for I don't know what...it's just necessary to use wireless internet). Walked to a place and had brunch...eggs benedict with spinach, hashbrowns, HOLLANDAISE, bacon, on english muffins...and english breakfast tea...YUMMMM! By this time it was already the afternoon. Haha. Walked around the BEAUTIFUL area (mom, you would LOVE it here...reminds me of NC, except way better..and accents!), took lots and lots of pictures, toured a historic cathedral (GLORIOUS!), went shopping, back to car, here now at computer. :) The end.

It's been so fun! Sorry I haven't been in touch - I have no internet and no service on my phone. Have been trying to find internet everywhere, but I guess things on this side of the world are just not as easy as in America (and not as cheap..that's for sure!) Just bought a calling card, so dad, be expecting a call soon...I got your email. Email is currently down, so sorry to anyone that wrote me an email and hasn't gotten one back (dad, I just didn't have time on this computer to respond). Will check again asap! Love you all! :) Keep checking back everyday as I may not be able to email out a notification of new blog.

Random Update :)

Hello! Well, I am on break! It’s my mid-semester break and I’m so excited to have some time off. I was planning on going on a roadtrip but I am not sure if I am anymore. I have a lot of assessments due right after break, so I think I’m going to take some time to get those done and visit the city and some other fun places around here. I may go up north a bit and visit for a day or two to a theme park, but I’m not sure yet. I think I’m going to get a job soon. I posted my resume online for babysitting jobs, and I have enquired about one family already but no answer yet. We’ll see what happens with that. If I don’t get any offers soon I’ll probably just go searching for another job somewhere else.

Well, I’m really loving my car! It’s quite scary at times, because for some reason the roads feel narrower here and cars feel like they are really close to me. My perception is a bit off when it comes to knowing how close I am to someone on my passenger side, which makes parking a bit difficult too. Okay, I’ll be honest…I am TERRIBLE at parking here. Oh well, I guess I’ll get the hang of it here someday. I suppose after doing it enough I’ll just get better at it.

I think I have found a place to live next semester! It’s outside of college housing, which is a plus! It will be cheaper rent, but it is further away. It doesn’t matter that much since I do have a car now, but at the same time, if I have an hour break or something, it won’t take me two minutes to get home. It’s about 10 to 15 minutes away. The girls that live there aren’t college girls, but they do go to the church. One of them goes to the Conservatorium of Music in the city and nannies as her job. I’m not sure what the other one does, because I honestly don’t know her well yet. The one girl that I do know is named Katrina and she’s super sweet. She’s 21 I think, and anyways, we get along really well and we hang out a good bit. I’ve started having TV show marathons with her. :)

My housemates and I have started having a Gilmore Girls marathon as well. Hehe. So that complete series of Gilmore Girls is really coming in handy! They’re all obsessed now. I seem to do that to people a lot. I always get people hooked on things for some reason – especially food. Haha.

Speaking of food - I’ve gone on a no-sugar diet. Well, that’s what I’m supposed to do, but when I went to look for foods with no sugar, I discovered there is hardly such a thing. Ha! I try to get things with no more than 3grams of sugar. I am getting used to drinking all natural teas with nothing in it. I’ll tell you what though, that is really hard, especially when it’s green tea…yuckkk! Oh well, you just get used to the “yuck”! But you also get creative. I bought all kinds of veggies and some fruit, and I can whip up a mean lunch or dinner!! It seems like anytime I try to follow a recipe, it just doesn’t work out, but every time I just try something new and creative, it’s AMAZING!! Through this no-sugar diet I think I’ve tapped into some kind of chef side of me….I mean, come on, it’s gotta be in there somewhere – the Bessinger side owns a frickin’ successful BBQ restaurant and the Brownlee side just KNOWS how to whip up a mean southern meal! So yeah, there’s gotta be some kind of food creativity genius inside of me, and that is what’s coming out of this new eating habit/lifestyle! :)

Well, that was a bunch of randomness! Just wanted to update everyone on what’s been going on with me lately. I haven’t written on here in a while and last night I helped a couple housemates get a blog and it reminded me to write on my own!

Hope everyone’s doing well! I had a really bad case of “Missing Home” today. :) I really do miss everyone and wish that I could just have a private jet to go back and forth, but unfortunately, that’s not reality. This is life. And don’t get my wrong, I AM LOVING IT! But I love all of you more than I love Australia or any other country in the world, so always know that! Can’t wait to see everyone in December, besides dad and Drew, who are coming in July (I’M SOOOOO EXCITED!!)! Love y’all!