I'm going to NZ in a Spaceship!

T-minus 4.5 hours til departure to New Zealand. Then I become an astronaut this spring break...

Along with a group of 7 friends, I will be traveling the country of NZ for 12 days. We will arrive in Auckland in the North Island, drive the entire country, and leave from Christchurch in the South Island. The trip will begin with adrenaline-filled excursions and then be balanced with adventurous discoveries in nature. Here is a map of NZ below...

So you may be wondering how I will become an astronaut?! We will be traveling in a sleepervan that is referred to as a spaceship. The spaceship appears to be a minivan from the exterior, but the inside includes a bed for 2.5 and a stove. Between our 8 astronauts, we will have two spaceships. So 4-6 will sleep in the spaceships and the rest of us will be sleeping in a tent next to the spaceship. And get this....each spaceship also has a nickname. If we're lucky, we will be traveling in either "ET" or "Uranus." Will destiny bring us together?! Only time will tell... And finally to add to all this, there are space stations strategically aligned throughout NZ. At these space stations, we will receive travel advice, meet other spaceshippers, and trade DVDs. Weird enough for you yet?! Haha, I wish my mind was creative enough to make this up, but it is all true. Here is a photo of our new ride...

Liftoff! Much more to come very soon on the NZ enterprise. However, I will be without internet for the next 12 days in space. Here are some other quick highlights of the trip:

1. Black water rafting
2. Zorbing
3. Thermal Wonderland
4. Tongariro National Park
5. Pancake Rocks and Blowhole
6. Wild Foods Restaurant
   
7. Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers
8. Wanaka
9. Queenstown Bungy
   
10. Milford Sound

And....I leave you with some fun NZ facts that I was recently enlightened by (compliments to a close friend).

• NZ is the first country to see the sunrise
• Lord of the Rings was filmed entirely in NZ
• There are 9 sheep to every human in NZ
• NZ was the first democracy in the west that gave women the right to vote
• Bungee jumping, zorbing, and jet boating were invented in NZ
• NZ hs the world's biggest flightless parrot, oldest reptile, biggest earthworms, smallest bats, oldest trees, and the only native land mammals
• Andy Wiens and Sean Lawlor have been to NZ
• NZ is the closest you can be to Antarctica without being there
• New Zealanders are referred to as "Kiwis"
• Possum is not only roadkill in NZ but is also eaten