While we were in Queenstown, Sean and I started thinking about what he could do to stay busy while I was in Brazil.  In the beginning we simply assumed that he would go along and be with me there for the entire time and maybe teach English, take some classes or get some kind of job in the tourism industry.  However, after doing some research and talking to some contacts in Brazil we learned that it's very very difficult to get a work visa in Brazil (even I won't be granted one - mine is a study/research/volunteer visa and doesn't allow me to work for money) and it's extremely difficult to find a job there as well anyway.  Also, Sean wasn't really all that jazzed to teach English for another year either.



So Sean started thinking of what he would like to do in the future and came up with three things: 1) he doesn't want to teach  2) he doesn't want to work in hotels  3) he wants to try working outside and use some of the skills he learned at NOLS.  Thus, we joined the NOLS alumni job list and started looking for jobs daily.  In September I saw one that I thought might be a good fit.  Sean filled out the application, wrote the essays, asked his references to send in letters and turned in the completed application.  Much to his surprise, he was granted an interview which was to take place in the wee hours of the morning (because of the NZ time difference) during our road trip with Susie.

The interview was over Skype and consisted of four people asking questions and asking Sean to consider various scenarios and lasted for one hour.  When I asked him how he thought it went he didn't feel confident about it at all especially since they were interviewing 50 people for 12 positions.  Five days later he got an email saying that he got one of the positions - a conservation crew leader for the Wyoming Conservation Corps.  The position is funded by Americorps and works with the National Park Service along with the Bureau of Land Management.



From January to May he will take a leadership and conservation class at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, get other training and certification such as in chainsaws and wilderness first responder medicine, volunteer in something conservation-related for 10 hours a week and work at an additional part-time job.  In the summer, he will lead a crew of 12 college-aged youth on "hitches" (10 days of work in the back country) where they will camp and work on trail building, historical site restoration and other various conservation projects.  At that time he works for 10 days and then has 4 days off.

If you are doing the math in your head you might realize that we aren't going to see each other for 8 months (!).  I know. It's a big decision and a scary one.  But we think it's the right one and we will be able to Skype, email and talk on the phone for most of the time.  Actually, in the past, most of our relationship was long distance and we are well aware of the fact that it totally sucks.  So here we go again.  After Sean finishes in late August he's hoping to head back to Holland for an annual "Bridge Trip" with his close guy friends and then fly to Brazil for my last three months there.   That's the current plan at least, but we'll see how it goes.


For now, Sean is in Laramie undergoing an intense 10-day EMT course and flies home on Christmas Eve.  I just talked to him on the phone and he said that he's glad that he wore his Carhart jacket because he fits right in.  Maybe he'll come home wearing a cowboy hat and boots . . .  a girl can dream, right?

After over 30 hours of travel, Sean and I made it into Holland late Monday night pretty tired but happy to be back at home.  When we passed through LAX I was surprised once again by the huge amount of diversity as well as the sheer quantity of people.  While we could pop in and out of airports in New Zealand in a matter of minutes, we waited in various lines in L.A. for hours.

Our last real Kiwi meal in NZ - L&P and fish and chips complete with Watties Sauce

Here are some updates:

1.  We sold our car!  On Friday, our last paid day on the lot, and after putting on a new mirror and some damage control to the panels, Sean sold "Rosie" to two young Welsh guys anxious to get started on their own adventure.  She sold for exactly the same amount that we bought her for, which is crazy.  Oddly, because of the recent crash and the cash that the trucking company gave us, we ended up making money on the eighteen-year-old wagon.

2.  Sean was home in Holland for about 30 hours until I brought him to the airport once more this morning for a flight to Wyoming.  He will be gone for about two weeks to complete a WFR (wilderness first responder) course in Laramie, a requirement for his new job.  He arrives back home on Christmas Eve and then will have a few weeks of freedom in Holland before starting the actual position in late January.  More on that later.  As for me, it's back to substitute teaching for two months.  I will gladly accept any spare prescriptions of Xanax.  Seriously.

3.  Our joy about selling the station wagon was short-lived, however, when my 'check engine' light immediately went on in our little Honda back home.  Turns out some squirrels and mice had had a lot of fun in the engine while we were away and we pretty much just funneled money from one car right back into another one.  Cars are awesome.

4.  My friend Emily and I signed up for a month and a half of CrossFit - the latest rage in fitness.  If you're going to get fit, you might as well be trendy too, right?  Unlimited classes start this week and go all the way until the end of January.  I am both excited and nervous but am hoping the effort pays off as if all goes well (visa app/medical clearance etc.) I'll be on a beach at my placement in Brazil in about two months.

5.  Jet-lag is lame.  I can't sleep even though I'm tired and am ravenously hungry at odd points of the day and night.  In between attempting to sleep and eating breakfast foods for dinner, I just walk around like a zombie.

Waiting on the side of the road for the airport shuttle

Besides all of that, it feels great to be home.  The Christmas fir is up, the candles are in the windows and Mom is making honey-coated pretzels and giving out samples.  It doesn't get much better than this.

Part of the fun of the caving adventure was rappelling into certain parts of the cave that were hard to get to.  The first step off of the edge was always the hardest but once I got going I just didn't look down and felt a little better.  The most challenging thing for me was controlling the speed of my own descent without my hand getting to hot or tired on the rope.  We were always connected to a rope in the cave because it was usually high up or very slippery or both.






 The last part of the day included our highest and longest rappell, a hike back to the truck and warm showers back at the house.  I was definitely sad to have to give back our sweet and stylish caving outfits and sexy gumboots. 

The number one thing that Sean wanted to do on the North Island was to explore the Waitomo Caves.  The Waitomo Caves are a huge tourist draw and most people go to either see the glow worms or to go blackwater rafting.  We really wanted to see some glow worms and check out the caves but we didn't want to fight the crowds of the tourist buses so Sean looked into some alternative options.  We decided to spend the day with a local guy who just ran a small guiding business out of his house in a less popular section of the caves and we ended up having a really good time.



Paul, our guide and owner of Green Glow eco-adventures, was a lot of fun and very knowledgable.  He had been a guide in the caves his entire life and was one of the original guides for the now very touristy and popular Blackwater Rafting Co.  One of the things that we liked about his adventure was that we could choose whatever activities we wanted, he was very into cave photography, provided all of the equipment and clothes that we needed (along with hot showers afterward) and allowed for free camping the night before.




We arrived at his house at 9 in the morning and got all geared up with rubber boots, wool socks, thermals, fleeces, helmets and climbing harnesses.  Then we drove to the entrance to the cave we were going to explore.  Paul is the only person allowed to guide in this particular cave system - it's owned by a local farmer who lives next door to Paul and they have made a deal to share the use/profits.



First we practiced using our harnesses and the caving belay device which was different from anything we had used before.  Then we started our hike in the cave.  Paul was particularly into cave conservation and one of the coolest things about this cave was that it hadn't been destroyed by crowds of people.  He was very picky about where we went and told us exactly where to place our hands and feet at some points so we wouldn't further damage any structures.  Paul had told us that he was in the process of updating his website and asked if he could spend a little extra time on photography and if we minded being on the website.  He also said that he would give us a CD of all of the pictures that he took of us while in the cave. (If you look carefully on his website you can see quite a few pictures of us)




Walking around the cave was really neat and I enjoyed everything about it except for the giant eels.  (There are a lot of eels in New Zealand).  Paul said that they could get really big in the cave and even showed us some of the bites/scars he had from trying to mess with some of them.  After that, I was only more than happy to get out of the water and to start climbing higher up (we had to anyway due to rising water levels as it was raining outside).

Hiking up on higher ground but we had to be clipped in as it was quite a far drop

Cheesy pose for the website

We spent the morning hiking around looking at different formations, we spent lunch looking for and eating under a cave roof of glow worms and then we spent the afternoon doing a lot of rappelling and abseiling.  It was a very full and fun day.  The glow worms were my absolute favorite but I wasn't too sad to be leaving the giant eels.   More to come about the glow worms!

Practicing and getting ready to go down into some of the tighter spots

Our hostel in Chrishtchurch

 One of the hardest and most tiring parts of traveling is the transition time - the period in-between living abroad and living at home.  Usually this time is filled with frantic packing, planning, organizing and lots of random paperwork to finish to get ready for 'real' life back in the States.  When you throw in trying to sell a car into this already busy mix, your days in transition time become "chocka-block" as they say here in New Zealand.

Cleaning and drying out all our camping stuff - it got soaked in Milford Sound

After spending two weeks road-tripping around the South Island with my sister and after finishing our last backpacking trip in Milford Sound, Sean and I are in our final week in Christchurch where we are preparing to fly home on Monday, December 10 and attempting to sell our car.  This last item was made slightly more difficult in that we were side-swiped by a semi-truck only about 15 minutes from our hostel in Christchurch and a day before we were looking to sell the car.  Rotten luck and even worse timing, but these things happen, it could have been a lot worse, and we are moving on.

Giving "Rosie" a good wash

We managed to get some cash from a settlement from the trucking company and are using some of this money to repair the car just enough to try and sell it (cross your fingers).  These days, Sean spends his time at the Backpackers Car Market hoping to find a buyer and I head to the library to work on visa applications, NZ tax back and insurance stuff (and the occasional blog post of course).  The transition time is a very necessary part of traveling but definitely not the most fun part, that's for sure.

Our car - post accident

I still have plenty of posts and pictures to put up about adventures in New Zealand and Australia in the meantime, however, so stay tuned if you're interested in what we were up to.  It would be more fun to see you in person though and we look forward to re-connecting with friends and family while we are in Holland.  See you soon!

Packing up a year's worth of possessions - always a good time!

My sister, Susie, arrived in Queenstown last week so instead of blogging in the evenings I've been spending time with her - it's been great!




So far her time here has gone way too fast and we have been having some fun adventures during our road trip together (along with Sean) around the South Island.  It's always really cool having someone visit because they notice different things and bring a fresh perspective to being in New Zealand.  Also, it's a great excuse to do the touristy things that we have been wanting to do and have been saving up to do.  Thanks for visiting Sue! (And to my sister and anyone else reading . . . have you thought about visiting us in Brazil - you should!)

The most beautiful part of the Tongariro Crossing was seeing the Emerald Lakes.  They are known for being bright blue and green colors because of all of the mineral deposits due to the thermal activity.  Normally, you can see a few different lakes which look quite dramatic against the dark volcanic landscape, but because it was winter, some were frozen over and we only got a clear look at one of them.



We found a good spot for lunch right next to the lake and couldn't stop looking at its color.  It was really exposed during that part of the hike though and we all got really cold from the constant wind.  I think all of us put on about every layer we had just to keep warm and it wasn't long before we all wanted to keep moving. 




We crossed a large and flat section of snow before gaining elevation a bit only to drop down again and head to the other car park.  This involved walking through more harsh landscape where we could see remnants of the most recent blast from the volcano.  There was no lava involved, but thermal energy blew a hole in the side of the volcano and sprayed rocks everywhere.  A couple of rocks even landed on one of the DOC huts where campers stay on the side of the trail.  Fortunately, no one was there at the time and there were no injuries.



While we walked past the hut, there were some DOC workers checking on it and they opened it up for us and let us peek in at the damage.  I was amazed at the size of the rocks that had blown all the way from the mountain and landed on the hut.  While we were walking, there were signs everywhere to walk quickly through this particular stretch of the crossing as it was still a very active and unpredictable area.



And walk quickly we did.  Tired, hungry and thirsty, we all stepped up the pace and made haste for the car all the time looking back at the awesome views of the volcanoes we had left behind. Although it was pretty exhausting and a bit precarious at times, I can definitely understand why many classify this as New Zealand's best day hike and why others consider it one of the most dramatic treks in the world.  It will be hard to beat.