Home

Its is so so good to be home. Although I will admittidly miss all the new and exciting things traveling provided, it is incrediably nice to be in the familiar. To know the language, and see my freinds again, and my beautiful home town.



Through the last six months i have learnt a great deal but probably the thing that sticks out for the most is Gods undeniable provision. Being in New Zealand we often find ourselves forgetting that God is the provider and that everything we have comes from him. THrough my travels I became so much more aware of this, there were countless times were God provided for me and blessed me in ways that were so obviously from him, when I so so needed it and could not have done it without him. I learnt to trust God so much more than I have before.

What an amazing year, cant wait for the next trip. :-)

Italy

Hey people here is a (very) small selection of my photos from Italy, there was just way to many to add!




Me and Jordan being Gladiators.


Im not a lier cause I still got my hand.



The Dome of St Peters Basicalla. No kidding Michelangelo was a genuis.



The Spanish steps.

And thats all for now folks, time is of the essence, and I gotta get ready to go home!

Greece not grease thanks.

Greece is a pretty sweet place, one I would like to visit again but never live in. The ocean is amazing and the scenery is fantastic. But its such a crazy place. Its like this huge jumble of modern and old, tidy and dirty, fancy and cheap. But always always unorganised, transportation is fun! But it was definatley an awesome awesome experience. I spent the majority of my time on the Pelleponese which is a part of the mainland and with Mitch explored the area around where he was studying. So here are some snap hots of what we got up to.



We walked across a really really long bridge.


This was at an old winery, where we tasted wine, and then enjoyed the view.


This is in the mountains in Greece where we could actually see peaks with snow on them. Betcha didnt picture Greece looking like this.



Some old stuff and a building in the background.




And this in Athens. Cool place.


So yeah that was Greece. Sorry if some of the photos are a bit fuzzy but there was a small incedent of honey getting all over my camera and it never really recovered.

And as for my last day in Greece, I ended it by getting a nice big grease stain on my pants. Nice.

Holland and the Netherlands

When people say the Netherlands I it always makes me think of Peter Pan and Never never land. Just cause it sounds the same. But there is no Captain Hook in Holland, but I did see a pirate ship, sort of.

Anyhow it is a pretty cool place and was kinda neat to see where some of my family came from. I have more photos from Holland, sorry about so few from Germany but those were the only ones I had available. So here we go...

Amsterdam, love that place, its as crazy busy as New York but with a whole different style. The building are so old and it is very cool how the city has kept its same character for hundreds of years, seriously New Zealand is so young! Lol and definatley saw some interesting "coffee shops".

The couisins, well they are actally my third cousins, I think, I get confused with all that. But anyhow they took my in for just over a week and showed me the country and the country side, they were amazing tour guides!

Check the one in the middle, its the most narrow house in Amsterdam.

Roooooooooooooooooooar goes the giant.

So I know I have small feet but this is just ridiculous!

Nudist beach hehe.

Germany

Germany, it is a beautiful place in the autumn when the trees change colour and some of the villages I visited and stayed are the cutest towns I have ever seen. I am not kidding when I say that some of them looked like a fairytale belonged to them, it was magic.

But I really learnt a lot about communication, the language barrier as I continuously found out was always interesting and often frustrating. But seriously of the languages to know, english is the best, Im not sure how or why it happened, but its the international language to learn, which means a lot of poeple speak at least a bit, which is fantastically helpful.

I am not sure what I expected when I booked my tickets, to be honest I just made what I was going to do up as I went along, which was actually really fun. And although my travels in europe where a little different than I thought they would be they were great all the same. And I have learnt ( for future travels ) the value of money corresponding to how much it lets you do over here ( grrr stupid euro being so stroong). But I think perhaps more importantly I learnt to enjoy the moment I am living in, I think to often people, myself very much included in this statement, are to much looking forward to the future, or maybe pining for what they cannot do that they simply forget to enjoy the present moment they have been gifted with.

So any how enough about my philosophy's in life what did I do in Germany? I did the best thing ever! I caught up with friends who I had not seen in long time. Sara and Susi lived with my family for 6 months a few years ago and I got to spend some time with each of them which was awesome. And also my school friend Valerie, who was an exchange student, and it was very cool seeing her again as well. So that is what I did in Germany, I hung out with my friends, did some touristy stuff, but pretty much just chilled out.

New York, New York

Sorry folks for leaving this blank for so long, there is no reason for me not keeping thhis more up to date I just didnt get around to it.

So starting where I left off, New York New York its a hell of a town. It really really is. Although my arrival to the city that never sleeps was a but bumpy to start off with it was definatly a trip worth the effort.

So first impression was that it smelt and was wet but they may have had something to do with the rain. But impressions improve a lot after you have sat down after lugging heavy bags around and a good freind from camp arrives to keep you company.

This photo speaks for itself, best cup cakes and they meant it!!

Well worth the ridiculous amount we paid to see it, hadnt read the book which made it all the more amazing as I did not know what to expect. But it was absolutely spectacular, would pay to see it again.

I have no idea why but there was confiti all over times squae so we stopped to play.

This would be a good time to introduce my co, Megan, without I would have been lost, literally I mean I have a terrible sense of direction so she took charge of directions. Thankyou google maps!

I dont know about you but the Empire State building kinda looks like a space ship to me. Maybe it is.....

Times Squara. Yes it is that bright.

Washington Square.

Me and Lady Liberty, she really is an image of freedom, its quite cool to see her in person.

This is a statue that was at the bottom of the Twin Towers when they fell. Its amazing but all it has is a few dents. Espeacially after seeing how big the space is where the towers used to be. It really hits you the enormity of it.

Apparently the charging bull is lucky, we just thoughh it was cool. But rubbed its nose for lucl just incase.

If you go to New York you HAVE to get a hot pretzel from a street vendor, it is the best thing on a cold day.

But that was New York, 3 days was not enough time to explore it all.

California

And then...... I went to California! Oh sooooooo much fun! Stayed at another sorority house, it was Fancy, grand staircase and everything. They actually filmed something for Heroes there a week or so after I left.

Tea Cups

Lindsey who I satyed with.

The Castle. Its a lot smaller than you would think, but still magical.

What can I say the Locals liked me.

I wanted to see it closer but I was informed that if i tried to get closer I would be stopped before I got the chance. They are very careful with their signs.

The stars of hollywood, not in the sky but you can still go star gazing.

Me and Mal hanging out.

The Beach. So good to see the ocean!!!