Valentines Weekend

Happy Valentines Day!

Friday, I went into town with Janelle and Aleisha and saw the movie Valentines Day, which was good and the previews for new movies look really intriguing!

Woke up Saturday morning to catch the 8am shuttle and it was raining. I made an executive decision to sleep a bit longer and see what the weather proved to do. Woke up again at 9:30 and the sun was out so I walked into town. Went to the arts and crafts fair/thing and picked up a souvenir clock made out of a beer bottle. Spent early afternoon wandering around down town and found a small art gallery (with free admission - score!) that really made me miss my acrylics and paintbrushes. So in a wave of emotion wishing I had art supplies with me I bought a sketch book and colored pencils - much cheaper than acrylics and canvas I must say. So Saturday afternoon I drew for a bit and did my laundry - exciting no?

Today was an adventure! Aleisha picked me up at 7:30am to go on the Wilderness Safari (http://www.dartriver.co.nz/dartriver/WildernessSafari/). The weather was not great today, mid sixties, cloudy and windy. The safari is a 45 minute bus ride out to Glenorchy - a town of roughly 250 people, an hour jet boat ride, 20 minute nature walk, and another hour or so in a bus that takes you down a dirt road through some scenery (and LOTR filming sites!). The jet boats were heaps of fun. They went really fast and we saw some gorgeous scenery and the driver would stop so you had time to take some pictures. They also did some 360s that got your adrenaline pumping - and got you a bit wet, which made it pretty cold. The nature walk was short, but beautiful. It was through a rain forest that gets 7-8 meters of rain every year. On the backroad tour I got to see part of the ents - to me it looked like at the end of Helms Deep when the ents crush the remaining orks that fled, Isengard and a portion of the Hobbit will be filmed in May. On the drive up we also got to see where Frodo runs from Boromir in the first movie - when Boromir tries to take the ring. This trip made me want to do a Lord of the Rings trip now.

The rest of my Sunday is going to be a bit more low key. I'm chilly so I think I may make some coffee or tea and watch a movie.

When I get the pictures off my camera I'll put a few up from the Wilderness Safari.