CHOICE!

Entering most countries poses a problem. This problem is simple and common: language. However, thanks to the British incredible ability to conquer nations and create colonies, we Americans reap the benefit. Shall we point out a few: India, South Africa, most of Africa, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, and of course, New Zealand. This might sound great to some, but it does come with a hitch. English in New Zealand can actually seem like a foreign language sometimes. It’s amazing. Slang like “Sweet as!”, “Choice”, “Mate”, “JAFA”, “Cheers”, “Breakie”, “Sunnies”, and way too many more. In order, translated to English: “Awesome”, “Great”, “Friend”, Just another F***** Aucklander”, “Goodbye”, “Breakfast”, “Sunglasses.” The point I’m trying to make is this, sometimes you might as well be in a country that speaks a foreign language. It’s almost like Spanish vs. Portuguese or Mandarin vs. Cantonese; it gets tough.

The good news is that no matter what, these people, foreign language speakers or not, are good mates. (See some of you might think that means good for reproducing or a good lay but you would be wrong). They are simply cool people. When stretching the limits of what is humanly possible and mentally permissible, it really helps to have good folks cheering you on and helping you every step. Which brings me to my next point.

A great example: ice climbing. Now this isn’t your every day hike up a hill that has a little ice buildup because of yesterday’s slight drizzle. I’m talking straight 80 foot glacier cliffs with a vertical slope and a few overhangs. It was surreal. Also quite frightening. I’m starting to realize the power of adrenaline. With activities like ice climbing with pickaxes and skydiving and scuba diving and whitewater rafting and mountain biking, I don’t understand why people need drugs. Adrenaline is the most incredible drug. Best of all, it usually comes pretty cheap. Life is unbelievable. Life in New Zealand is a gift from God.

Ice climbing consisted of stiff boots, crampons (ice picks on feet), two ice axes, and a helmet. With three anchors at the top of the ice wall acting as a pulley and a person holding the other end of the rope with a belaying device, your objective is to climb the wall by kicking the ice and reaching as high as possible with the axes. By the time you reach the top, you can’t feel your arms if you are lucky. If you happen to under-work and don’t reach the point of paralysis in your arms, you feel pain like it’s going out of business. Top it all off with an accidental look down to an 80 foot straight drop onto jagged ice and you got yourself a rush of adrenaline.

I don’t know if the pictures do it justice but it was one hell of a day. Definitely the most incredible thing I have done this entire trip. It’s something I really hope to do again in the near future.

Explanation of the hair. Transformation is the best word to describe it. It might only be mental but it works well enough for me. The reason I decided to allow Matt Hall to do this to my head was because I realized that jumping out of a plane was not something the reserved Michael would be willing to do. I needed a new me at least for the time being. I thought the archetypal being that does things like jump out of planes or climb ice walls that are far too tall usually has a Mohawk and not a care in the world. That was the goal. So far it seems to be working. Fear not my amazing brother and my poor mother, the landing strip will be gone by the end of the trip and before I meet anyone who may judge me at first sight.

Thanks everyone for your support. This whole experience has been amazing. I leave for China again on Monday and I’m not sure what exactly I’ll be doing while I’m there but I promise to keep uploading pictures and blogs.

Love and Prayers,

Michael

Picton, New Zealand. Speaks for itself, make sure you enlarge it.

We saw this dead cow on our tour of Glenorchy.

Glenorchy

That's higher than it looks, especially if you look down.

So much fun.

Toodaloo...