Sorry, sorry, yes, I'm still alive.

I wrote a big long post yesterday, then ran out of money on my lame-ass hostel internet card and it got lost. Bugger.

Let me just give the quick and dirty, since it's oddly hot for the South Island - can we possibly be THAT close to Antarctica? - and I'm sitting in an attic on another public internet cafe computer.

Went to Milford Sound - was worried it'd be a let down, since it's so hyped. But it defintiely measured up. Did a full day walk/cruise tour, and since it had rained the day before, there were waterfalls everywhere. You'd think staring at mountains would get old, but I could just sit and stare at fj/iordland for days on end.

Came back to Queenstown. Met a rowdy group in my rowdy hostel, and partied til 4am. This is such a great town, although I suppose living here would get old. Also went white water rafting, which was cool, but would've been more fun with a different guide. Our boat was masterminded by a guy who hails from Maine - and even I hated Americans by the end of the trip. No, he was just sort of a douchebag. I know rafting can cost lives, but he really sapped a lot of the fun out of it. Anyway, I jumped ship and swam a few rapids, got half the river up my nose, it was brilliant.

Just got back now from the glaciers. Did a hike up Franz Josef yesterday, and my quads are paying for it. They call it a "hike," but I'd describe it more as black diamond rock climbing, on the rocks, if you smell what I'm cookin'. It definitely warrants the adjective "thrilling," was much more scary than rafting. I had a visual in my head of falling off one of the so-called bridges (aka a ladder with a plank of wood across it) that straddled the crevasses. Kept recalling parts of "Into Thin Air," and thinking about that dude who had to saw his own arm off... anyway, happy thoughts. Our guide was a red-headed Scotsman (they call 'em "gingers" here, probably in a disparaging way), who Rich from AUS called Groundskeeper Willie behind his back. I wish I had the balls to quit normal life and be a guide for something, anything out here. How sweet. You wouldn't believe the shape these guys and gals are in.

Anywho, this is my last full day in NZ, so I'm getting out of here. I'll just add here that I did get an offer from FTE... and I think I've made a decision. I'll leave that as a cliff hanger for now...