My NZ adventures.. a bit late.

So... the story should be over but I promised I'd put up my NZ entries and I never did.. so if you would like to read about skydiving, white water rafting and the like... go to the entries at the begining of March and read "Back From Kiwi Country." There you can read each daily entry from our spring break trip. ENJOY!

Oh There's Also New Pics Up.. Check That Out. But I Really Am Done NOW.

And I'm Home

4/27

We arrived in Chicago and were happy to learn that it was only an hour layover. We basically walked to the complete opposite side of O’Hare (which is a really cool airport I might add—probably my favorite so far) to our gate. Then everyone changed and freshened up to meet our families in Indy. Two girls had separate flights so we said goodbye to them and boarded the plane.

I was sitting next to some dorky kid. I couldn’t tell who was older—he or I—but he made for interesting conversation none the less. As soon as we stopped going up, the pilot announced we were starting our descent. It was so quick.

When the plane came to a stop my phone rang. It was Maggie asking me if the plane had landed yet because she was in passing period and wanted to know if I'd gotten home safe. I started to get a little suspicious at that because she shouldn’t have been calling.

As I stepped off the plane my heart was beating so fast. I was one of the first to get through the terminal and my mom was the first one I saw, with a sign saying welcome home Jess. I tried to walk but I was too excited so I ended up running to her. Dad was walking up to us and I turned and saw Angie and JD! It was so nice to see them and then who runs up on me but my two sisters! The little tricksters had known they were going to come all along. It was so exciting to see them again.

I was really happy that I had my whole family there, and Angie had said she would probably come which was awesome but I didn’t expect JD to come at all so that was a very pleasant surprise.

My family, JD, Angie, and Craig’s family all went to brekky/lunch at Steak n Shake on the west side. We had a crazy woman server but it was nice to have a melting pot of sorts with my real family and Australian one.

When we left they took me by the farm to see my new house. It was interesting. I hated how the barn looked from the street. Its old and stuff but the land was pretty cool. The house has a lot of work to be done. I saw my new room, it has a pretty view.

When we went home we all sat up in my room and mom, Mag and I fell asleep on my bed.
Then I showered and Jessi came over. It was so good to see her again and she even brought me flowers! We all went to the senior musical that night and I saw my grandparents, church people and school people—even Miz H.. so I gave her Sydney ornament for an early birthday gift.

The show was good. Funny. Abby looked hot as usual in her pirate garb. Jessi came over afterwards and we attempted to just catch eachother up until about 1 am when she left. I don’t choose to be in Indiana over Aussie but its nice to be home. I missed everyone.

Maggie, Me, Mom, Abby in Indy

And so ends Jessica’s Australian Adventure!

Overnight Flight to Chicago

4/26

We got to the LAX airport early in the morning. It was weird because when we got to the airport we were on American turf and airport staff were no longer smiling and telling us “G’Day” but just telling us “That way…” with disturbed looks on their faces.

After much waiting around for the entire group we headed to the domestic terminal, only to find out there was no where for us to stay during our 10 hr layover so we walked back to the international terminal—found a squatting ground and got some food.

I got to use my cell phone- talking to a bunch of my favorites. We played a card game while the girls left the airport to go to some bodybuilder beach.

We got to check in 4 hrs prior to our flight and went to our terminal. One of the girls, Sigler was on another flight so she left us there. We sat in the terminal and looked at pictures and rested until our flight around midnight.

It was a 3 hr or so flight and I was sitting by a middle aged guy. He talked about his family and fishing trips and made fun of the movie I was quite excited to see—“Holiday.” He was nice though.

I didn’t sleep at all.

Craig and I chillin in the airport

Even A Sunny Day to Finish

4/25

I woke up at about 7am for no apparent reason. It was a bit rainy but it appeared to get more sunny as time went on. I thought about going on the cross island trek with Craig and Sigler but then the sun came out so I went down to the beach. Then it started raining.

I came back and sat in the bed for a while and talked to Rach when she woke up. Eventually the sun came out and we went back down to the beach for our final day in the Cook Islands.

The three of us got icecream at the corner store, packed up our stuff and played a massively long game of blisters.

My baggage ended up not being overweight, actually under by several kilos so I was a bit upset that I had left clothes and stuff at the hostel. But oh well, so it goes.

It was a 8 hr plane ride and I didn’t sleep for very much of it. I sat by Craig and we watched Casino Royale. I was anxious to see what was sooo amazing about it. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. Too straight of a story line maybe?

Our Air New Zealand Plane
Getting Ready to Take us Home

Dive into the TUMUDU Bar

4/24

So the alarm went off at 7:15 this morning for us to get ready for SCUBA. You know those times when you take a nap that is just long enough to make you cranky and even more tired than you were before? Well that was my feeling this morning.

They were in the kitchen drinking and carrying on last night well past 11pm (the time the kitchen “closes” and we were kicked out one night) and then once they finally went to bed I still couldn’t fall asleep. Then I woke up often during the night and couldn’t fall back asleep. It pretty much sucked.

Anyway, I got up about 10 minutes before the SCUBA van arrived…of course I left my logbook and temporary cert card in the hostel. It wasn’t a big deal they just looked it up on the computer-- but still.

The dive was pretty good. The coral was really cool and we saw some neat fish. We even saw a white tip reef shark! That was my favorite part. Everything else I’d kind of seen before (by way of fish and what not) but the coral formations were pretty unique. Rachael and I were buddies. Of course, being who I am, I tried to conserve air because even though I know its not a game, I don’t like to be one of the people that has to go in first because they are low on air. I was the 3rd to last up… Craig and another pretty experienced diver came up after me…but anyway that’s not much of the point. Haha.

They gave us biscuits and hot chocolate (yes it is about 80-90 degrees outside) and they were delicious. I decided to keep my 40 bucks and not do the second dive. They pushed for me to a lot but I would like to have some money when I get home, before I start work. I snorkled and followed the divers around (as I could see them pretty clearly 15 meters down from on top of the water.) The site was a ship wreck and it was pretty cool looking. Rachael said it was an awesome dive, but I’m not sure they really got too much more than I did on the surface because the visibility was so good.

Our skipper was pretty nice and invited Rachael and I to come to his mate’s bar for drinks, darts and a good time that evening.

After the dive they brought us back and we ate quesadillas and hot dogs. Those hot dogs would not come apart for anything…ahh the joys of having a microwave in a few days! Rachael went to town, Craig got online, and I went to lie down in the room and type. The sun was still out so I was kind of disappointed in myself for being inside, but it was hot, I was a bit dehydrated, and SO tired. Plus, we’d gotten a pretty good tan already.

I took a good nap and then got up and got on the computer. Rachael and I decided that we wanted a coconut so we tried to break it open ourselves, in the mean time the girls came over to say hello. Sigler, Peacock, Lindsay and Nikki. They invited Craig out for dinner and after much confusion and a bit of argument I decided I would go with him. I took a shower and we went to their hostel only to drive right back by ours to the Spaghetti House.

It was decent food—Craig and I shared a pepperoni pizza, I actually bought an iced tea because there was no free water and we had garlic bread. A little pricier than I’d like, but it was worth it to spend some time with the girls and have a good meal.

After dinner we stopped at the “amazing Oasis” which is only “amazing” because it’s the most mainstream gas station on the island. It looks like something from back home and its about the only thing on the island that does. We got a Memphis Meltdown. Yum. And then we took the bike back to the hostel, where Rachael was waiting for me and we went straight to the bar—in the same area we had just come from.

We walked into the “restaurant” and in the back was a bar where there were about 8 older people sitting. We debated about going back home but just as Rachael turned and walked away, Jason turned around and called us in.

We had a fun night of playing darts, and some good conversation. Mostly with Kiwis and Pommes. We drove the scooter home and hopped into bed.

Our Skipper and Dive Guide

White Tip Reef Shark

My Favorite Fish

Us Looking At Big Rock Reef Formations
(I'm the one in the middle)

Safety Stop: 3m for 5 min

Rachael and Dive Skipper: Jason @ Tumundu playing darts

Island Bike Downpour

4/23

I set my alarm for 9:30 because I didn’t want to sleep the day away if it was sunny. I woke up at 8:30 and told Rachael to come down to the beach and sleep. Neither of us did fall asleep but we were out in the sun until 2pm. It was pretty hot so we bought ourselves some mighty delicious ice cream at the corner store.

We both got pretty toasted. She looks really red, and I can feel it, even though I don’t look it.

After the beach we showered and went into town. It was a big ordeal because I didn’t want to ride the bike with her driving because I don’t like the bike to begin with, and she doesn’t have much practice on it. But after a bit of an argument we were both off to town—the long way, on the bike. It was going pretty well and I was actually kind of enjoying it when it started to downpour. We stopped along the edge of the road in a huge mud puddle. Our shoes came off and she couldn’t get the bike to completely stop so it kind of fishtailed and kicked mud out all over me and my clean white camisole. We went over to a store across the street where about 10 other bikers were hiding out, and waited for the storm to clear. After about 20 minutes or so we got back on the bike and eventually got to sun.

Turns out it never rained on the other side of the island (amazing since its only 10 miles across!) good thing we decided to take the scenic route huh?

I pulled money out in town, and she tried to get the money her mom had wired her, but they sent it to the wrong place. We bought some groceries and then went back to the hostel. We made dinner with Craig (veggie pasta again) and then worked on the project. Diving tomorrow morning early- guess that means I ought to go to sleep.

A View of the Island from Water

Sunny Sunday Non-English Church

4/22

So, I woke up and the sun was shining. This made it very difficult for me to say, yes, I will forgo the sunshine after a day of rain and go to church like a good kid. However, I had sent up a little prayer the day before saying that I was going to try to go to church—a bit of sunshine might be nice in exchange.

So, I woke Rachael up and we walked 30 minutes in the baking sun to church. It was a Christian church, the front of it was covered with graves (all of which are above ground here.) The service lasted about 1hr 45 minutes, and about 10% of it was in English. 8% of the English was during the offertory time. Imagine that?!

Anyhow the service was quite interesting. When we walked into the church, there was a man yelling from the back of the sanctuary to the front. What about? I couldn’t tell you. Then we were directed to the balcony seats. We tried to figure out why this was, as most of the white people were in the balcony, however there were also Maoris and some lighter skinned people were sitting down below. We thought perhaps it was members only on the main level. There were a couple hundred people in the church and three pastor type people.

The singing was loud and somewhat gospel like, except with more harmonies. There were many voice parts, a very unique Pacific Island blend that sounded—simultaneously as though they did not rehearse regularly, because they weren’t all together, but also that they had spent much time singing in eachothers company because of the close harmonies.

I couldn’t really tell you what the sermon was about…but there was a little 2 or 3 year old girl that took a liking to me and climbed into my lap during “the message.” There was also a bringing forth of children section. Almost like a baptism with kids ranging from 13 yrs to infants.
The preacher that delivered the sermon explained himself as being second in charge, but he was by far the best deliverer to his audience. It was quite an interesting experience—more cultural than religious but that’s what I was thinking it would be.

After church we were invited to the reception. We’re near broke and thus wont turn down any free food so we went to the building next door. It was almost all “visitors” and much to our dismay it was not a grab and go sort of deal. So we sat and listened to a prayer and talked to the people around us until we were allowed to grab a plate.

The treats were delicious! They had banana bread! I was in heaven. We also had papaya, coconut, banana and chocolate cake. Definitely the best church reception I’ve been to.

Afterwards we stopped at a little place to get groceries and then walked the rest of the way on the beach. Let me tell you, its not to shabby to walk through the surf in a sundress on a sunny Sunday morning.

We hurriedly put on our swimmers and went down to the beach. It was a hot day and we were on the beach till the sun went down. Rachael and I are determined to come back tan if nothing else.

In the evening I played cards and blisters with Craig and we all had noodle cups for dinner.

I got on the internet and sent messages to the most important people.

Rach and I in front of the church

My little friend during the sermon

Walking down the beach After Church

Rain and More Rain

4/21

So we woke up at about 10:30 and it was raining so we just sat in bed for a while—I looked at pictures on my computer. Later on it was still raining so we played blisters. In the evening it was still raining, so we showered and had dinner.

When it rains in a place where the only real thing to do is be outside—its not so much fun. So you take little things, such as the preparation of your food, or bathing yourself—and make them activities. Perhaps toasted peanut butter and jelly would be more filling…If I wash my hair a second time with this cheap shampoo will it be any softer? How many souvenir postcards should I write each day to be finished with them by the time we leave this place? With the money I have left, what is my daily allowance?

At least in Lennox when we had our rainy week we had homework to do, and 30 other people to play games with or talk to. Here, not so much either of the two. Of those in the hostel, a lot of them are pretty odd. I should be doing my math, but the internet is too slow and costly for that to be a practical idea.

Rachael and Craig went into town to get money, but I stayed because I don’t like riding on that bike. I guess they talked to the girls and they are all having a miserable time and annoying each other to death.

Other activities of the day included: writing postcards, watching the second half of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” (but the sound isn’t great and the end of the DVD wouldn’t work…and ps...someone never fulfilled their promise) making souvenir lists, “packing” which was done for the purpose of rearranging our baggage and getting rid of clothes because both Rachael and I had baggage that was significantly overweight for travel within the US. Neither one of us really wanted to get rid of that much, so we put heavy books and things in our carry-ons and made a bag of “could but don’t-really-want-to throw away clothes.”

In going through and repacking everything neatly we showed each other our souvenirs and got really excited about being home and giving them to people.

Yesterday, while I was on the beach all day, I didn’t really wish I was home. But we have now heard a forecast that calls for heavy rain until Wednesday.

Please God, send sun. I’m trying to go to church tomorrow, so just take that into consideration.

Our Kitchen I Sat in Most of The Day

Sunny Day!

4/20

We woke up at about 11 and went to the beach. It was actually sunny so I was quite happy. However, after approximately 10 minutes it began to rain. I thought it was just a little drizzle…but it didn’t really stop so we went back to the hostel. Rachael and Craig went and found a coconut and we proceeded to do all of the work associated with being able to eat it. They are delicious though!

The sun came back out so I v-lined for the beach. This time it actually was sunny and hot for a couple hours. I just sat on the beach, listening to musical songs and singing them really loudly. I’m excited about possibly being in University Singers or getting to do a show this summer. I hope one works out; I want to be back up on the stage. I’ve missed singing these past few months.

While I was laying out 2 American couples came and talked to me for a bit, they were on a cruise of the islands and they were astounded at how beautiful it was. I agreed, but told them that they were pretty lucky in that they caught a good weather patch. Randomness for the day: the sand here is different from Australia—here it is more like crushed shells, whiter. I haven’t decided which I like more.

Rachael and Craig came back from town, having made a booking at the dive centre, Rachael had money wired to her, and they picked up some bread. Craig went back and signed me up for a dive…or two for Tuesday.

We started making a lovely dinner. Rachael cooked pasta, while I cooked some stir fry vegetables. We opted for no pasta sauce and just had butter and peppercorn seasoning on our veggie noodles. Then Craig cracked another coconut and we all helped peel it from the shell and chop it up into little pieces to make coconut chips. Well, I made the coconut chips and they didn’t turn out exactly like Darcy’s. We called ours Americanized candied coconut—because it was swimming in an excess of thick syrup rather that just little crunchy pieces. It was still delicious though.

Craig taught us a dice game called blisters, so we played that and exchanged pictures before going to bed.

Making Coconut Chips

Rachael Eating Them

Sugar toast?

4/19

We woke up around 10:30 and got ready to go to the beach. Craig took the bike over to the girls to ask them some questions about diving and hiking. Both Rachael and my beach towels were in the seat of the bike so we sat on a lovely little red blanket down at the beach.

We’re both pretty wiped out today. Then the rain came so we headed back to the hostel. I stole pictures from Rachael and defragmented my computer so hopefully it should be running pretty smoothly. We all sat around in the kitchen, listening to music and playing games about paying attention to the people around you. Like the one up one down, two up, two down game. Ever heard of it?

The sun came out so Rachael and I went back to the beach. We got about 15 minutes of sun and then it started raining again. So much for sun shiny paradise huh?! I showered and then we had dinner. Ramen noodles. I took a nap and got ready to go see this native dance show at a bar in town. We were planning on two of us riding the bike and then paying the advertised “hostel bus fee” of 6 bucks a person for the third. That was leaving at 8:30 so we all sat around and waited until they came out at 8:35 and said they weren’t taking people because there weren’t enough of us.

So Craig took Rachael in, and then was going to come back to get me. While I was waiting, I decided t have a piece of sugar toast. I was all excited... the toast came out golden and the butter melted perfectly. I put sugar on top of it and spread it all around and took a nice big bite—only to discover that it was not in fact sugar…but salt. Lovely, eh?

It’s a fair ride into town so it was about 9:20 by the time Craig got back. The show had started at 9 so we were running a bit late. We got there and the place was pretty crowded. The voice of the band was pretty funny and he explained about all of the different instruments and types of dance. They pulled people from the audience. One of the girls was the Indy girl we had met the night before. The dancers were pretty amazing. Both the men and women…boy they can move their hips quickly!

Craig wanted the take-away place that we went to the night before so he took Rachael back and I walked to the place and ordered. It was dark on the streets but I felt pretty comfortable walking alone. I’m surprised Craig let me do it though because it was about a 20 minute or so walk. I waited a couple minutes once I got to the place and then put in the order. The food came out about a minute before Craig pulled up and we went back. It rained a bit but not too bad…I was just worried that he’d be able to see. I did feel more comfortable than with Rachael or by myself—but its still not my favorite thing. I couldn’t help but thinking that one of the three of us is going to die on it before we leave this place.

We came back and ate. I boiled some water to drink the next day. Hopefully it will be warm and sunny and I will need it on the beach. All of us are having money issues. I guess the girls across the island are having their cards declined and Rachael is having problems with hers, along with my stupid move about the BSU account, and everyone simply going broke.

We night go to steak night and pub crawling tomorrow evening with people from the hostel, but I don’t know. Money is tight!

Rachael and I stayed up talking until about 5am. I don’t even know how we did it, but we had both taken naps during the day. We talked about relationships—the good and the bad, about problems we had and just about a ton of stuff... She’s lived through some really hard things and it just amazes me how strong she is. It definitely made me thankful for the relatively easy life that I’ve lived thus far.

The Take-Away Place