Christchurch, NZ - Dear Universe...

Just finished up NZ with a grueling yet very rewarding 10 day safari with an organization called "Hiking NZ." (I really recommend this company if anyone is interested in a NZ holiday.) Six of us and a guide hiked locations in the south island from Queenstown to Christchurch. We hit the must-see destinations such as Fiordland National Park, the Catlins, Mt Cook, and kayaking in Milford Sound. Also did a lot of neat side trip such as visiting a hatching ground of the extremely rare yellow-eyed penguin and walking through a petrified forest. The hiking was intense but actually my biggest fear was cooking for the group! We all pitched in for meals and rotated cooking and cleaning. I didn't want to be the person who burned the only food available as we camped deep in the bush! It all went well though. The great thing about hiking all day is that any food tastes good. Despite being shower and toilet deprived the group got along really well. There were two crazy French (redundant?) guys who quickly wormed their way into my heart by carrying 2 liter boxes of wine in their already-ridiculously heavy packs on some of our overnight trips. Our last night we slept in a park hut and while we were asleep they decorated the hut with balloons (which we packed out of course.) One night we slept in a sheep paddock and in the middle of the night as I stumbled out of my tent to find the outhouse I heard a noise to my left. I looked over and saw dozens of yellow sheep eyes reflected in my headlamp, floating in dark. That image will stay with me for a while!

In Mount Cook we stayed at a mountaineering hut where I met Baz, a 50ish grizzly biker dude from Australia. Clad in tie-dye thermals Baz explained to me the wisdom of sending poems out to the universe. (My guide later asked me, "I didn't want to sound stupid, but did he actually post them?") Apparently for several years Baz offered poems to the universe and finally the universe replied. One dark and stormy night at a mountaineering hut in Nepal the door burst open and a lone woman walked into the hut. Baz and she have been together for the past ten years. I had the pleasure of reading one of his poems and despite being printed on blue paper adorned with rainbows, the poem was quite good.

Some general observations:
-Don't order Mexican food in NZ.
-Try to avoid traveling when the $NZ is at a 23-year-high to the $US
-Try not to have a violent reaction if someone mentions the word "facebook" again
-Black sheep really do exist (and I thought Jeff was one of a kind!)
-If you eat enough Muesli bars they start to taste good
-NZ has more helicopters per capita than any other country. They are used for such things deer hunting, tourism, and the two airlift rescues that I personally witnessed. Watching someone have a severe allergic reaction and struggle to breathe while hours from help is a scary thing. So is someone handing you an EpiPen and saying "You know how to use this, right?"
-In response to reader comments, to the best of my knowledge I do not have a genetic mutation that prevents me from tanning. Being pasty is cool, gosh darn it.

Now if you'll excuse me I need to go finish my letter to the universe.