The downside to turning 21 overseas:

Your license expires without you realizing, just when you're done working and want to rent a car and travel around the country. But instead of realizing this when I was making a reservation with the rental company, I realized it yesterday, after getting up early and hitching a ride over the mountains to the next town over to pick it up from the airport. After pleading with the rental car lady for about 20 minutes and seriously wondering if I could get a New Zealand license for about 2, I decided to just make a day of it in Queenstown. I proceeded to enter lots of swanky shops wearing my sneakers, dirty jeans, carhartt, and backpacker pack, with which I knocked over several rich Australian tourists by the sale racks. Back in Wanaka last night, I frantically searched for cheap buses that could take me where I'd planned on going. So far I've only found a way to get to the west coast glaciers. The project for the rest of today is to find a way to get to most of the other places I wanted to go, including Arthur's Pass (of Lord of the Rings fame) and Mt. Cook. When I return on the 24th, I'll be getting on a plane back to Boston. I'm excited for the new year with a new team!

On the starting line at the Farm.

On a snowshoe expedition.

Rock climbing in skate boots.

-AM