Our first day in the land down under

Wednesday, Nov. 3: Schools out for the summer!!!  Wednesday night Steph, Court, Cathy, Max, and I ate at Space of Love.  Again, I love this place.  We had amazing vegetarian mince pie, spirulina smoothies, hot chai, sweet and sour salad, and this crazy carrot dessert.  That night we said our goodbyes to Max, Lindsey, Jess, and Sarah :( ... then Steph, Cathy, Court and I hung out in my room, watched hot rod, and laughed so much.

Leaving beautiful NZ for Australia

Thursday, Nov 4: All of Steph and my crazy planning was somewhat complete as we headed to the airport 4 am Thursday morning.  Right away we got good vibes from the Aussie people.  However, we did hit a bump in the road when we arrived at our hostel in Kings Cross and they told us they overbooked.  They sent us to a different hostel called Kanga House Backpackers.  Worst travel experience of my life.  The hostel and reception was nice but the inmates were extremely rude and awful.  We hated going back there every night and couldn't get out of it without losing money.  But we did not allow this to ruin our trip because the rest of Australia was incredible.

After we dumped our bags into our room, we wandered the streets of Kings Cross and came across a cafe called Room 10.  This was one of the best choices ever because it became our haven after every night at Kanga House.  We had amazing banana bread as the guys told us about cool things to do in Sydney.

On our way to the grocery store, we passed by a table raising money for the para-olympics.  We almost didn't stop but we felt good vibes so we wandered over.  The two guys were super nice and we talked to them for so long about more things we can do in Sydney!

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Harbour Bridge

After that we walked to the Sydney Harbour where we found the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.  It was all so much more epic than I imagined or saw on TV!  We walked up to and inside the Opera House and then across the Bridge.  It began to torrential downpour on our way across the bridge so we caught a train back to Wooloomooloo.  Here we went to the famous Harry's Cafe de Wheels.  It is a caravan cafe that serves the best meat pies I have ever tasted ... and has served so many celebrities!

More Spring in Christchurch

Victoria Park

Monday, Oct. 25:  This morning Courtney and I decided to venture into the beautiful city of Christchurch again and ride the cute vintage tram around.  It was a very relaxing day.  I finally got to explore the art gallery, Te Puna O Waiwhetu.  There are so many exhibits, we could have spent all day there, but it was nice taking a slow walk around appreciating the amazing art.  We then shopped at the  cute Art Centre market and then continued along the tram to Victoria Park.  Victoria Park was a nice grassy area in the middle of the city where we got delicious kiwi sundae vanilla ice and laid in the grass beneath the warm sun.  Mmmm I love spring :)

Christchurch Art Gallery

Space of Love Ayurvedic Cooking Lesson

Tuesday, Oct. 27:  Today Court and caught the bus to New Brighton.  We spent a few hours studying for exams in a cafe and library overlooking the beautiful shore.  Even studying is beautiful here!!  Then we went to the Space of Love. Wow.  One of the best experiences in New Zealand, and that's saying alot!  The Space of Love is a unique, relaxed, and friendly vegetarian cafe that aims to provide healthy, balanced, and nourishing meals freshly prepared daily from local organic produce.  They allow their customers to decide what they want to pay into the anonymous magic donation box.  It is the most chill environment.  We went there to take an Ayurvedic cooking class by Sruti, the owner.  He described to us the Ayurveda is a system of traditional Indian medicine and every ingredient we use is used to benefit the body.  There are spiritual aspects to it too.  We made samosas with coconut chutney and tarmarind and date chutney.  The first samosa filling was spinach and cheese, and the second was potato, cauliflower, and peas.  We used so many spices too!  We were cooking for four hours and it is the best food I have EVER had!!  I cannot wait to come home and try cooking it again.

delicious samosas and chutney we made

The best part of the night was talking with the people.  There was one girl there named River who was so awesome and from Rhode Island.  She is only in her twenties and has lived in Alaska, Hawaii, California, and New Zealand.  She just loves to travel, sleep on beaches, and meet people.  Court and I also received light therapy.  They shined different wavelengths of light on different parts of our body.  We felt so amazing afterward!  Apparently it is an alternative medicine used to treat many problems.  We received basic treatment that boosted our immune system and overall well-being and energy.  Awesome!!  We stayed late into the night after our meal sipping on herbal tea and talking to River and Sruti about life.  The best part of traveling is meeting amazing people and opening my mind to new ideas.  We had deep conversations about traveling, energy, religion, love, and balance.  It was an interesting, eye-opening, healthy hippie night.  A night I will always remember!