Haere Mai!
Greetings from Middle Earth, I hope everyone is doing well
back home. Last time I checked, the Braves were on a roll so the universe is in
order once again, not to mention my neighbor and buddy Alex Wood made his MLB
appearance earlier in the week. Congrats brother! Since the last time I
blogged, I feel like I have lived from hostel to hostel via a charter
bus—courtesy of our bus driver, Maxine… a distant cousin to Dale Earnhardt.
I’ve never seen a charter bus go up and down a mountain the way she has taken
this one. I’ve seen no fear in this lady’s eyes.
So about New Zealand. I really cannot compare it to anything
in the United States except for maybe Montana or Wyoming. Rolling hills, sky
blue lakes and mountain ranges covered in snow (and a ton of sheep) only
strengthen my belief that we have God. Also, the fact that I was able to safely
jump off of a perfectly good bridge and write about it confirms that I’m still
in good favor with Him; but I’ll tell you all more about this later.
When we arrived in Auckland from Australia, we had to go
through customs—much like every other country you fly into. However the New
Zealanders are very smug about what they let into their country. I found this
out the hard way. All hiking and camping equipment must be checked at customs,
but when only 3 people are checking 75 people’s hiking boots it becomes quite
annoying. Especially when your connecting flight to the South Island leaves at
6:15 and you’re still in customs at 7:30. Myself, along with 6 others were on
our first journey in Middle Earth; however, Murphy’s Law soon followed. Come to
find out the scuba resort charged me twice for a $400.00 charge so needless to
say. I was overdrawn, hungry and I needed a shower—not a happy camper. In the
words of Gazaway and Houston… “Eat a snickers, Roy.”
We finally were able to fly into Christchurch later that
night and meet up with the group. Of all places, we were staying in the YMCA
Hostel. Now we have all heard the song “YMCA” and apparently “Its fun to stay
in the YMCA.” This is false…. Once again bunk beds were involved; aluminum
jungle gyms to be exact, which creaked if you took a breath. However,
Christchurch itself was very interesting. Especially since it’s basically a
city that has been reduced to rubble after two earthquakes within 4 years. A
lot of the businesses are running out of storage bins you see on the back of an
18-wheeler. After leaving Christchurch, we moved around from Queenstown, to
Doubtful Sound and back to Queenstown… or the 2nd greatest city on
Earth—behind Athens of course. When we arrived, Queenstown had received over 4
inches of snow that covered the surrounding mountains; unfortunately we missed
ski-season by two weeks.
Once again, leave it to Americans to travel halfway around
the world to locate an American honkey-tonk, named Cowboys… so original. I quickly began to see why foreigners are so
hostile to Americans. After hours of singing along to Wagon Wheel, Free-Bird, and Calling Baton Rouge we felt as if we
were back in the greatest place on Earth.
For all you Athenians, imagine a Generals
atmosphere with a Bourbon Street playlist.
I believe it was the first time in college I haven’t had Austin Long next to me
singing Wagon Wheel. For those of you
who don’t understand the severity of this, this man and I have already agreed
that we will sing this song at our weddings before we even dance with our lucky
ladies. Kind of a big deal. Also, what kind of night would it have been if I
did not Call the Dawgs? The Irish patrons loved it, however the natives decided
it was time for us to leave.
Lastly, about the whole bungee jumping thing... I had one
rule coming on this trip. Don’t be an idiot. Is jumping off a 450 ft. cable
bridge with a strap tied to my legs being an idiot? No, not at all. Was it the
coolest/craziest thing I’ve ever done? Yes. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to
skydive and bungee in the same day, the weather was too rough and my wallet was
too thin.
Nevertheless, I made my mom sweat it out for a little while
before I finally told her I was ok; she told me I probably took years off of my
life. However, for me, it was actually a shot of life. Having been the biggest
of the group jumping, I had to go first, so there was no room for softness. I’m
not going to lie; I had some serious anxiety that morning. Also, it didn’t help
that I was hoisted back upside down due to my strap not coming loose that turns
me right side up. Imagine a 240 lbs. tuna being hoisted upside down, 450 ft.
onto a bridge. Don’t worry; there will be lots of video.
I did what I said I would; I took a leap of faith. Actually
a jump of faith, instead of falling into it, I decided I’d swan dive. Go big or
go home, right? Not to mention it’s the 3rd largest bungee in the
world. On to the next two. But I learned
a lot about myself yesterday. As I’ve said this whole trip: Do something
extraordinary today; take a leap of faith. You will only truly regret the
things you don’t do. We have four days left in New Zealand and a week in Fiji
before we return. I can’t wait to see all of you guys when I get back. Stay
Classy, San Diego.
Cheers,
-Dustin
P.S. I’m currently watching Wedding Crashers halfway around the world. Life is good.
No comments:
Post a Comment