oh how we LOVED Bali!

Okay...Austin and I LOVED Bali it was so incredible!! The people, the beaches, the food....and yes even the heat. Well okay maybe not the heat. But it seriously was amazing!

We first got into Kuta the main city of Bali. It is so hectic and crazy so we rented a scooter and headed out to Uluwatu. Its about 30 min away by scooter and on the southern tip of Bali. Its so quite, beautiful, and completely rural. I loved it!

here was our mode of transportation for the next two weeks...

ha ha so we had to pack everything on to travel out to Uluwatu....it was crazy, and at times a little scary. Especially if you see how everyone drives!


Once we got to Uluwatu we found the most amazing place for only $8 a night!


okay there are lizards...EVERYWHERE, but mostly just little ones! ha ha so the first night we went to shower and there behind a towel was this guy...he is about the size of my arm, and scared the crap out of us at first. But we grew to love him and named him Dre...he frequented our place throughout the week.

and then there are the MONKEYS...these guys are everywhere too! And they are sneaky little guys...and theifs, but cool all the same.

Were you get gas...it was so weird. You just pull over and they take some reused bottles out and fill up your scotter...

One night we went to see a FIRE DANCE. It was probably one of my most favorite memories of Bali. We got there ....and we were the ONLY people there to watch the show ha ha! I think because we were out in Uluwatu and its so small and rural, and not as touristy. So it was pretty much just for us. It was so cool, so authentic and cultural...and the performers were fantastic!! and they totally involved us in the show :)

The monkey was our pal! ha ha me with the performers


okay now lets talk BEACH!
Lots of laying out, surfing for Austin, Swimming, exploring...amazing!

and lets not forget the food....so so good. Nasi goreng and Mie goreng...YUM!!! So good I forgot to take a picture of it before we started eating.


Well we decided to do a little tour to go and see the temples and things...
I love this picture!




such cool temples!

So random but these people really wanted to take pictures with me and Austin....I dont know why?

We decided to do a tour (not like us) and it started to rain...and rain and RAIN!! it was insane. Everything was flooded in a matter of minutes...and we got soaked! While walking back to the tour van Austin and I had to wade through shin deep water in the parking lot. We were laughing so hard, it was awesome! I haven't been caught in the rain in a long time...it felt good :)

me sopping wet.

Our last night in Bali....we got to have dinner with Cory and Mark. Cory is a friend of mine since middle school and her and her husband happened to arrive in Bali a day before we left. SO we went out to dinner and then all got massages. (did I mention massages are only $5? its amazing) It was so fun! I just love them both :) Wished we could have hung out more.

love you Bali....we will be back!

Good Bye

Good Bye New Zealand!
Goodbye to crazy Kiwi's
Goodbye to weird words like "munted"
Good bye to beautiful New Zealand Beaches
Good Bye to farms and cows
Good Bye to Hell's Pizza, Burgerfuel, and boysenberry ice cream
Good Bye to good friends!!!!
Good Bye to 4 months of work and fun with amazing people!

and Thanks to everyone that was so amazing to us while there....especially Dave Ski and Amy and THESE crazy folks below.....
We will miss you guys!!! (ha ha please look at Brads face in the back....so so scary!)


Hello Indonesia!!!

road trippin it...

About a week ago Austin and I embarked on a tiny road trip to Rotorua to see more of good ole New Zealand. So let me take you along with us....

First and MOST importantly was the SHEEP SHOW!! ha ha yes that is what I said, a sheep show....a show with sheep....sheep doing a show. What more could you possibly ask for? Well I say nothing. And was it all it promised to be you may ask? Oh yes! and much much more. And anyone who knows me, knows that I love animals and for some reason they make me laugh more than anything... so needless to say this show was comedy hour :)

here are some of my fluffy friends...

Let me introduce you to....Jaba the Hut (on the left) and Perm (on the right) (named by me and Austin). These 2 were hands down my favorite....notice Perm smiling? He is just happy to be a part of such a fabulous show!

I had to take a solo pic alone with Jaba and he even showed a little leg... what a tease

What happens in a sheep show?
Well, I now have an increased knowledge of many different kinds of sheep and differences in their wool. I saw a sheep get sheared, a cow get milked, a sheep dog do tricks, baby lambs....and yes even 3 ducks made an appearance. It was a full farm extravaganza.

Now what could possibly compare to a sheep show? A Luge of course. It is fantastic....its like skateboarding down the most gigantic hill but getting to steer.

Away we go...

Now as you read the helmet you will see that...


SO up we go for a second round!


The view from the top so so pretty :)


After our first day of festivities....it was time to camp it out
(in the car because everywhere we went tried to charge us to camp)

The next morning we decided to go and see the "Buried Village". Sounds interesting, scary, maybe a little adventurous?? WELL.....it was NOT! It actually,we decided, might have been the worst thing we have ever spent our money on, ha ha, which made it SO funny. It is basically an outdoor museum about a little village that was buried under a volcano...and what is displayed? Oh you know... those exciting broken plates that were found, replica bed sheets and an old oven (that looked like a dirt hill to me)...ohhhh it was thrilling. ha ha but we were the only ones there so it was pretty fun we just fooled around and had leaf fights.

So since I had no desire to take pictures of the village itself here is a little of the beautiful nature


After the Buried Village we thought we would hit up some hot pools (pretty much what Rotorua is known for) We asked a local about some hidden hot pools that were free....and she told us about this place.
It was amazing warm bath like water, no one around and so pretty. It was so exciting....so we dove right in and started swimming. THEN we got to the other side and what awaited us was volcanic rock and boiling hot mud. It was painful and awful and we instantly decided to head back. But to get back meant to cross back over the incredibly sharp rocks and boiling mud. Austin decided to just steam roll the whole thing, but me? Well I came up with the genius idea of trying to dive OVER everything into clear safe water.
The diving idea was unsuccessful and THIS happened to my leg. It was so painful and the worst part was I had to swim back to the other side.
We tried to clean it up as much as we could....bandaged it and continued on to Raglan.
This is Raglan... so so beautiful. I just sat here on this grass and watched Austin surf at sunset, it was amazing and made Raglan one of my favorite places.

We were going to camp out and stay another night in Raglan BUT my leg was on fire and throbbing and needed some more care. So we headed home at 2 in the morning.

So this road trip was probably one of my favorites, I laughed, I cried and I was with my best friend, it was awesome :)

Okay just one more pic of Jaba.... I've gotta end this post with a bang!

My NZed accident

YES I got in an accident.
In a country that is not mine....in a car that wasn't mine....with children that arn't mine....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Good news, the kids were fine (I think they actually thought it was neat once the initial scary part stopped happening), I was fine, the other driver was fine and it wasn't my fault
Bad news....I totaled their car :(

What happened?? Well I was driving the kids that I nanny for to their play center and I was driving down a two way road, I went to turn right (mind you we drive on the left side of the road, so it would be like turning left) and some guy in a camper van decided to pass me on my right side on a solid yellow line....I turned right we hit I lost control and landed in a ditch.
I cried, freaked out that I killed the kids, panicked cause I am not in America...and then calmed down. All in all everything was okay, but I still felt really bad :(

Some really kind people stopped to help, one pulled the kids out of the car because I couldn't get to them....the other took pictures, another called the cops, and some just consoled me.

phew glad that is over!