Crushed it. Well, so far :D I am absolutely terrified of heights. I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get a photo at the top of the space needle in Las Vegas with Shatan in 2006. Crawled to her, stood up for the photo, and ran back to the safety of the wall. So, that being said, the fact that yesterday I did canyon swinging in Queenstown was a HUGE triumph for me.
I screamed the worst blood curdling scream I have ever heard come out of my mouth, but once that initial free fall was over, it was freeing! It was also extremely cold :) I'm glad I did it, I will never do it again, and I have already had dreams where I was hoisted back up to the platform and then "accidentally" dropped again. No thanks.
That swing was the second "ohmygodthatwassoscary" moment in New Zealand, the first being the shark swim I did in 2013. I'm slowly trying to overcome fears while on this program apparently.
On the downside, I'm still a control freak. I'm watching our budget like a hawk, making sure everyone has all their stuff when we leave a hostel, and reminding everyone to strip their beds when we leave. I don't know that I will ever stop being a control freak, but I have managed to be present and in the moment WAY more this time around than my previous two programs.
After swinging through a canyon I got another tattoo. Now my mom would say, if she were here, "Oh Leigh Ann!" Like AJ always says, only a mom can manage to say your name like a swear word. Anywhoo, so I got a new tattoo that is representative of my three programs in NZ/AUS. It hurt, A LOT. But it was a fun experience and I really like it :)
Now we're in Dunedin and tomorrow is the Elm Wildlife Peninsula tour. We get to see seals, sea lions, and penguins up close in their environment and learn about the place they live and how the government is protecting them. Needless to say, everyone is REALLY excited. Tonight we're going to order some pizzas and hang out in the hostel and maybe find somewhere for some karaoke :D
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