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Pictures from March 4 email: |
Pictures from March 4 email:
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"Wow look at those mountains!" |
Climbing out to point, heading to
Avalanche Peak |
Uptop Avalanche Peak |
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Elliot and Ronny - a man that I met
at church. He invited me to stay at the home where
he is living. |
Ronny, Cindy (the grandmother and
home-owner), Lilly (Ronny's girlfriend), and Elliot.
The time I had with this family will never be
forgotten! |
This is one of Lillie's children...I
forgot his name, but he really liked me. |
Elliot singing and playing the "air
guitar" with his new ipod (bought for him by his
lovely girlfriend Ricki) and singing one of his
favorite songs - "Shine", by David Grey |
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Pictures from February
22 email: |
Pictures
from February 20 email #2:
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Hiking the Keplar Trek (a 40 mile hike) which I did
over a 3 day period. Fantastic views. The weather
the first day was rain non-stop and once reaching
the summit, snow. I had thought that I would hate
hiking in the rain, but it was actually quite a nice
experience. Notice the trail in the background. |
Near the top of Mt. Luxmore |
Letting out my war cry of excitement!!! |
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Bundled up hiking the Keplar trek...
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At the southern most point of the south island.
Very cool place! Very sunny - as you can see from
my eyes. |
As you can see someone is learning how to use their
camera to bring life to moving objects like this
waterfall! Pretty nice, huh? |
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February
20 email 1:
Quick note... The picture is of me on
my cruise through Milford Sound...Very
beautiful...I'm drinking my free coffee. Tonight I'm
going to a place that has the "best chocolate chip
cookies in the world"...I'm so excited! I'll write
more soon. Elliot
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my note,
2/13 - Elliot's
camera somehow fell a couple of hundred feet off the
side of a mountain he was climbing. He was heartsick but
determined to find it. He was hopeful because the ground
was densely covered with trees and bushes which he'd
hoped had cushioned the fall. Of course, he did find it
- but the USB port cable was missing and it was pretty
banged up.
February 11 email:
Well...The USB port cable would have
cost 75 dollars to replace...so I said forget it.
Well, it just so happens I was at the Salvation Army
today and was looking through a $1 junk box...and
guess what I found? A brand new USB that
just happened to fit my camera! =) Here
are my latest pictures. Enjoy...Aren't these
GREAT! I love you. Elliot
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doing the Abel Tasmen costal hike |
Abel Tasmen National Park...my first
swing bridge |
Abel Tasmen costal hike beach |
Aurthurs Pass National Park |
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Hiking up 3,800' to a hut uptop a
beautiful mountain, surrounded by glaciers and other
mountains. |
This hike was very difficult. VERY STEEP
- getting closer to the top...nice glacier |
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had a chance to take off the pack and
check out the views...
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reached the top... |
Sunset anyone? |
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February 2 email: "The
trek was amazing...I saw dolphins, penguins, and seals
today in the wild...It was great. The trek was
beautiful. It was supposed to take longer, but I just
trekked fast! 25 miles. My feet are a little sore, but
it's all good. I'll send you some pictures tomorrow.
P.S. I'm going to run the Chicago Marathon this year!
=) Elliot |
January 31 phone
call: Elliot is heading for here, for a
three-day trek:
http://www.nzactive.com/abel_tasman_coastal_track.php
He has lost all hearing in his ear - but I am
practically positive it is temporary. Send blessings of
healing his way. |
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January 30 phone
call: Elliot went to see a doctor. In the
doctor's office, a man came in and inquired, "Can I
write prescriptions in NZ? I am a doctor from the US."
Elliot jumped on the opportunity, followed the man out .
. . and got a "free medical consultation" from the US
doctor. Elliot is now on the road to recovery. No
swimming for the next two or three weeks, which he is
disappointed about. Loss of hearing is temporary
too. Yeah! |
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January 28 phone
call: Apparently Elliot burst his ear drum or
has a severe infection - something that is causing loss
of hearing and the
most severe pain he has ever felt, he said. For two days
(Saturday and Sunday) everything is closed where he is.
He said he is going to a church service in the morning,
hoping to connect with someone that can help him. I feel
so bad for him and look forward to hearing from him
next. |
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January 26 phone
call: Elliot is finally rested, having slept
for 11 hours . . . on the beach. I asked him, "Were
there other people sleeping on the beach?" No,
just Elliot. He said it was wonderful. He was excited,
too, because he bought a car today - a Toyota Corolla
hatchback for $500. He is now set with his New Zealand
transportation and is hoping to sell it for a profit
before he comes home. (Yes, I asked - he has an
International license, and no, insurance is not
required. And, yes, I told him to drive safely . . .
which he always does anyway.) |
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January 25 email:
I arrived in Auckland today around 1:00pm and then
booked another flight which I caught around 8:30pm to
the southern Island of N.Z. So I'm here in
Christchurch. I'm staying at a hostel that's loaded
with other travelers. My roommate is from Scotland and
He's got a car he rented so I might travel with him for
the next couple weeks. That would save a lot of money.
That way we could also alternate on gas...so that would
be good. I'll see. Well... more soon. Elliot |
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January 24 email:
I am currently in Sydney and going to be moving on to
New Zealand in about 10 minutes. They had free email
access here at the airport. More soon... Elliot |
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January 23 email: Well I have
arrived in Hong Kong just fine. This city is
awesome. It's right on the ocean and there are all
kinds of people here. (From different nations). I
think just about anyone can move here. I like it. I
should be finding out later on today the details in
regards to my travels. I'll keep you posted.
Love, Elliot
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January 21 email: Well,
I'm heading to the Beijing Train station now to catch
my train to Hong Kong. I'll be on the train for 28
hours non stop... It will be nice cause I'll get to
sleep a ton! I think I may only have to stay in Hong
Kong for a day then I head to N.Z...Pray all goes
well.
I love you...Elliot
I gotta run and catch some breakfast
before going. It's funny...it wasn't until I came to
China that I ate McDonalds. =) I hate Chinese food.
Big Macs are my friend here... =)
Elliot
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"I ate a snake, scorpion and huge grasshopper tonight."
Beijing, China - 1/20
click all to enlarge
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January 17 email: I'm
really wanting to go to New Zealand. I really hope
that it all works out. I will probably be doing tract
distribution for the next 4 days or so in Beijing. We
have left over tracts that we need to distribute.
However Teddy is not really wanting to help, so I'll
be doing it on my own. I'm going to rent a bike and
ride around town from sunset to about 10p.m at night
distributing from the basket on the front of my bike.
It will go A LOT faster that way. It'll be fun. I'm
just ready to get out of the big city. I hate big
cities. I'm not to fond of architecture either. I
went to the Forbidden City the other day (one of
China's most famous tourist attractions). It was
cool, but not my cup of tea... This is more of my cup
of tea...
as well as...
and last but not least...
These are three of the view's I will
get from 3 of the different trails I plan to hike!
And that's just a small part. I plan to hike the:
Abel Tasman Costal Track
Heaphy Track
Kepler Track
Routeburn Track
Unfortunately the one I really wanted
to do is completely booked till April. That would be
the Milford Track.
Each of those tracks range from 4-6
days each. All of them are on New Zealand's southern
Island. I plan to fly into Auckland and then to
probably hitchhike my way to all of these places.
It's annoying cause I have to book all the hikes in
advance to make sure I get a booking. So I have to
sorta stick to a schedule. Oh well. I'll be heading
to Hong Kong from Beijing on Thursday or Friday. It's
a 28 hour train ride. But it'll be nice. It's like
$75 one way. I have always been told that the flights
out of Hong Kong are cheapest. So the plan is to take
a train down there, get a ticket and fly out of Hong
Kong to Auckland N.Z. Ideally I would like to be in
N.Z. by the end of the month. Jan 25 would be nice.
I love you,
Elliot
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"I let the hairdresser do what they wanted."
(in China) |
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January 10 email: I was
wondering if you could help me with something. I am
brain storming about things (and praying) and I am
thinking about going to one of the area's where the
Tsumami (or what ever you call it) hit. I think I
could really be of help. I'm sure they are looking
for people with carpentry experience or something. I
was thinking about staying here in china 'til around
the 25th or so of Dec. then heading to work somewhere
for a month or so and then maybe come home a little
early.
If you could PLEASE do a little
research in regards to help needed in Thailand. Like
if I were to fly into Beijing, who would I get hooked
up with? Same thing with India and Sri Lanka. I
will also need to know if I will be able to (if
needed) get shots when I enter the country. Thank
you. Look forward to hearing back from you.
Elliot (note: Elliot and I contacted a number
of groups in this regard. Not one of them wanted
independent volunteers to come to the area(s) until
June, earliest. in "cleanup and organization" phase
now . . .)
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