So last week was our last week of classes... and I didn't have much to do. My first final is June 12, but I am not going to start studying until Monday. haha- So Jess and I rented Gossip Girls Season One and spent three days watching it! The show is great. I remember making fun of all the girls at Theta watching it, but once you start, you are hooked. Highly recommend it! Today I was going to go shopping, but it is hailing with gale force winds... so I am thinking of a backup plan! haha
I only have a couple more weeks here and then I leave to travel and go home. It is so crazy that it is nearing the end of my time here. A month ago I was ready to leave, but now I realize that I have a life here. It's crazy to think that in one plane ride, everything will change. I won't be able to run over to John and Julies and eat cookies, have loser nights and watch movies with all of my friends, go out to eat at Thai Over, or take a trip with David to New World. I've been trying to just embrace the time I have left and look forward.
I cannot be happier to return home though. There comes a point in time where it is just better being home and reunited with friends and family. My best friend from school just lost her father and I want to be there. I cant imagine what she is going through. It's times like these that make being all the way in new zealand hard.
I have fully embraced the kiwi lifestyle and have some interesting facts that I would like to share to show you more into the culture here:
1. Mullets, rat tails, and every other crazy hairstyle is completely acceptable! About 60% of guys have one... I don't know if it is more of a funny idea or if they really like sporting these cuts. Either way, its hilarious-
2. Boys wear jorts... Jean Shorts. That end above the knee and are skin tight. Don't Judge.
3. Overall kiwi fashion: everyone wears really tight clothing... skinny jeans are the norm. Only americans wear gym shoes everywhere!
4. College competition is different...high school seniors dont take any admission test to get into college. They just apply to one of the six schools they want to go to and most likely are accepted. The saying here is "c's get degrees". No one cares how the next person does. You put in the effort that you want to and you get what you put in.
5. Success overall is different here. If someone is rich and has done well, they say "good on ya mate" they arent jealous and most people here would rather enjoy life than have money, cars, and houses.
6. People rarely complain. If something is rough, they say "she'll be alright" meaning it will work out. No stressing or high strung attitudes here.
7. We are wimps in america. No central heating is hard to live with! They sleep in long underwear surrounded by hot water bottles. haha
8. Most people are active here. I love running to see others out running and playing sport. SPORT is LIFE here! Rugby is HUGE!
9. We are blessed with good tv in america!
10. The drinking culture is big, but I am also living on a college campus.
11. Most people aren't religious. I havent met a college student that goes to church on sundays. Most people don't grow up religious and I asked a couple of people and they said none of their friends went to sunday school or anything.
12. They think everything is grand and big in America. Including our portion sizes, houses, material items, clothes, etc. And that might be a fact. A medium drink here is comparable to a kids size in america.
13. No one does work past 6 p.m. After dinner is time to relax and enjoy yourself. The library empties at 5.
14. Not wearing any shoes is okay. They dont post signs saying "no shoes no shirt no service"... you will regularly see boys without shoes in the food store on a warm day.
15. the selection for everything is limited here. Its not, which mall do i go to? its do you want to go to the mall? Its not which lotion do you want to buy, its do you need lotion? haha-
I think that is all I have right now! Most of these are things I have picked up from college students. . . so... it might be different in the real world! haha...
Alright, time to get off the computer and do something- hope you enjoyed the entry!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Christchurch Weekend
Last week was the beginning of the end, if that makes sense. I had my last pilates class on Tuesday. At first, I did not like the class, but it grew on me after a couple sessions and I am going to miss it. But not as much as I am going to miss my wine class on Wednesday evenings! I signed up for the class back in February with two friends, David and Erica. After the first couple of weeks, we all kind of went our separate ways and this wine class brought us back together every week. I learned so much about wine, wine regions, my own favorites, and everything in between. It was a blast. For the last class, we went to our teacher's, Geoff Weston, winery. It is the southern most winery in New Zealand, about 15 minutes from campus. It is a cute little winery and when we arrived, he had glasses, food,and wine all ready. We each brought a bottle, and Geoff donated two bottles of Chardonnay (which was ammmmazing!). So we had about 11 bottles for the 9 of us. haha, it was a fun night to say the least! Time flew by as we chatted, tried new wines, and enjoyed the bread, cheese, fruit platter. Let me tell you a little about Geoff. He attended the University of Otago and earned a degree in biology. He wanted to go to America to specialize in a field of medicine (my memory is scattered from the night- haha), but he could not get the university to sponsor him. So he became a pilot. After realizing that he didn't have the eye sight for flying, he decided to open a winery. He started his winery and then remembered that he wanted to write a book about a game he played as a kid (he was losing me at this point haha). So he wrote a 3 book series and is now selling it on Amazon. The first one is called Surkling (sounds like circling). He also teaches wine classes every semester. What a character!! He is probably my favorite person here- so relaxed and just living his life in his own unique way.
I turned in my last assignment of the semester on Thursday and we left town on Friday. We drove up to christchurch, which is about a 4.5 hr drive North. When we arrived, we picked up our race packets for Sunday and I ran to the Ronald McDonald house which is right outside the city center. I wanted to see a house in New Zealand because I have done so much work with the Chicagoland house. I met the house manager and she took me around. It was great! The house was adorable and so welcoming- I wish I could have spent the weekend there ; ) It reminded me so much of the old U of C house. It kind of brought a feeling of home to New Zealand for me, which was nice.
We went to our hostel and watched Juno and went to bed.
The next morning, we woke up early and drove to Arthur's Pass, which is a great 2 hour drive from Christchurch. I guess I should tell you who was on our trip! It was James, Lily and I in one car, and then we met up with Lynsey, Danielle, Jessa, Kelsey, and Crystal- who drove up in a separate car. We stopped at Castle hill and played around on the limestone rocks/boulders. They were in Lord of the Rings in a couple of scenes... It was gorgeous with the sun shining and the snow capped mountains in the background. We continued our drive to Arthurs Pass. The whole road was surrounded by mountains. When I did a 360 turn, I saw mountains, mountains, mountains... so beautiful! We took a short hike to a huge water fall and then another small hike to a look out point. We turned around and went back to Christchurch for the night. We saw the most beautiful sunset on our way back. The whole sky turned pink! I wish I could have captured it, but my camera does not do it justice. At night we decided to go to the movies. I wanted to see a happy romantic comedy and my friend recommended The Reader. Great acting and overall movie, but I was not in the mood for it... It was so sad and serious- haha.I like the movies where the couple falls in love and then gets separated and falls back in love and lives happily ever after. I went back and when my friend (the one who suggested it) asked me how the movie was, I looked at her like she was crazy! haha.
The next day we woke up early to run a race. Lily and I signed up to run a 10K and James and Danielle were planning to run the half. The temperature dropped overnight and it was freezing! haha- We hurried over to the start of the race and stumbled through the 5000 people running. The start of the race was fun- they had music playing and kept us entertained while standing in the hail. haha. I just remember the hail coming down and all of us raising our arms, laughing. Once the race started, I lost everyone and just ran. It was so much fun. I loved just being with a bunch of people sharing a common interest and challenging myself. The race itself was great. I just wanted to get under an hour, and I did. I really liked the distance, I might have to do more 10K races... After the race we headed back to the car to go to Hamner Springs (the natural hot pools). I went early in the semester with my mom and sister but was convinced to go again. We drove up there, and it was snowing- the hot pools were awesome! it was freezing outside, but we were in hot pools with snow on our heads. The sky cleared a little too, so we got great mountainous views. Julie joined us for the day too- Such a fun day. We went out to dinner and then headed back to Christchurch for the night. A couple of us stayed up talking over some tea... we discussed going home, the end of journey and everything else. So crazy to think about- but thats a whole other entry!
Monday was the queens birthday- It is a holiday in new zealand, but I guess it actually isn't the queen's real birthday and people don't really care about it - except for the fact that they get off work. We walked around the art centre of christchurch. It was a cute little village with shops and cafes. Christchurch has really grown on me. I didn't like it at first, and now I love it! It is so cute and friendly. We headed back to Dunedin at night-
Monday night I watched a movie with John and Julie and then I was back to classes on Tuesday. This is our last week of classes and then 2 weeks of finals. So crazy that it is almost over. I am done with assignments and too lazy to start studying, so I have been hanging out with friends- catching up on emails-and doing... nothing. haha
Check out pictures from the weekend: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2078588&id=21105072&l=1890a05144
Monday, May 25, 2009
Luxmore Hut
Last weekend, I went tramping with the tramping club to the Kepler Mountains. It was 2 candians, 2 kiwis, 1 german, and 3 americans haha- quite the diverse group! We did a 2 day hike up to Luxmore Hut and back down. We left on Friday night and spent the night at the control gates. I thought we would be staying in a hut, but I found out that we were camping outside (mind you, its the middle of winter here!) haha. There was a brand new shelter, which has walls- that dont touch the ground or connect, and we laid out our sleeping bags and slept there. Reminded me of sleeping on the baseball diamonds at summer camp... only 80 degrees colder haha...
We hiked up to the top on Saturday, but when we reached the bushline- it was a blizzard of snow and wind... I couldnt see two feet in front of me! haha- the snow was also hard to tramp through because you would step and fall up to your knees, get out and then take another step and fall up to your hips. it was constantly a game of how far i was going to fall. We were constantly tumbling over and helping eachother get out of holes haha- As much as I was mumbling swears under my breath, it was pretty hilarious- Its one of those times I wish I could rewatch from the outside... When we reached the hut, we went right inside to thaw out. We made tea, then soup, then mulled wine! It was yummy. We cooked red wine and added oranges, cloves, and cinnamon. And then after sitting around some more, we made dinner! haha- It was great to get to know some more people from the tramping club and relax in the middle of no where! We went to bed at nine and slept for 12 hours! when we got up, we made breakfast and chilled out for a couple hours before hiking back down. The weather was better the next day, but we didnt get any of the spectacular views. Once we got to the bottom of the hike, we looked behind us and the clouds cleared! We finally were able to see some mountains and a SWEEEET sunset! it was amazing!
Here are some pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2077971&id=21105072&l=35549f5441
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Yes, I am alive!
It's hard to believe its already May! Sorry, I haven't been updating- I haven't been doing much traveling- just hanging out in Dunedin. It's been two weekends and no excursions! needless to say, I am going tramping this weekend! haha.
Anyways heres some updates on my life...
Weather:
I'm so turned around with the actual date. If someone were to ask me what month is was, I would probably say... late October. It's funny how was associate the weather with the accurate month. Right now, its getting cold in Dunedin and winter is approaching. When people think of New Zealand, they think tropical little island. Wrong. Haha. Its actually quite cold in winter. It rained for 6 days straight, we had 2 days of mixed clouds and sunshine, and now it is raining again, ick! We had "southerly" winds the past week and they were freezing.. why?! Because they come from Antartica. haha. crazy concept. So yes, it is fall turning into winter on the other side of the world. It isn't bad, except for the fact that Dunedin houses were 1. built without insulation because back in the day (ours was built in the 1800s), it was really expensive to get thick windows and insulation all the way down here 2. built without central heating... i wake up and see my breath! When we cook dinner, we close the curtains and all doors to keep the heat in haha... It definitely makes me love my warm bed and hot water bottles. im still completely jealous of all of you, i regret shoving the beach in your face in feb!
School:
I had a couple papers due and my first test today. It wasn't bad. I guess I should tell you about one of my professors, Phil. he teaches Exercise Prescription and he is my favorite here. The lecture is at 8, and he usually has about 3 cups of coffee before class and the only reason the rest of us roll of out bed is because it is warmer in the lecture hall than our rooms- haha. He knows most of the class by name and its a lecture of 100+. He even knew my name! I talked to him today after my exam and he started laughing at me. He said I stress too much about school, "you're good mate, its all good..." haha- if only he saw me in the states! yikes.
Friends:
We have been hanging out here watching movies, going out to eat and just hanging out. My friend Jess and I attended a 24 hour book sale- it was awesome. There were thousands of old books for $1 and it was insanely crowded.. I think the whole town was there ; ) Lily and I went on a day hike last weekend around the area which was nice. A group of us rented movies and picked up pizzas last Friday which was fun. We don't make it out to the pubs/bars that often... Flat parties are more common and then people plan to go to town later, but usually we all end up staying put due to the rain, the second bottle of wine, or pure laziness.
Free time:
I have too much of it! I always wish to not have a to-do list and have that afternoon to sleep or read... wish came true and i hate it! I caught myself making a to-do list the other day, "-make dinner -call home" you see where this is going. I had to laugh. I really had nothing to do. I have been reading books and watching movies and tv like its my job! I also started training for a couple races to occupy my time. So yes, its great to just have free time- but im ready to be back and have some purpose- some job or volunteer work. i'm not used to being alone so much- haha. I regret complaining about being surrounded by 70 girls the past two years.
2 months left:
I have exactly two months left abroad- so crazy! I have 2 more weeks of class! I am going tramping this weekend and then next weekend a group of us are traveling up to christchurch to do some sightseeing, shopping, and we are running a 10K. I'm looking forward to it. Then i have 3 weeks of finals, haha so much time. We are planning little trips and hopefully some ski lifts will open and we can go skiing. On June 26, I am leaving for australia! Three friends (jess, david, and john) and I are having an ultimate vacation. We are going to australia for 2 weeks and then the norht island of nz for a week and then we are stopping over in the cook islands for 5 days... I will be arriving in LA, broke and tired, July 19th...! Seems so far, yet it will be here so soon-
Let me know what you will be up to this summer- I'll be around with nothing to do!
Also, look back soon for another entry about interesting facts of new zealand- haha-take care.
Anyways heres some updates on my life...
Weather:
I'm so turned around with the actual date. If someone were to ask me what month is was, I would probably say... late October. It's funny how was associate the weather with the accurate month. Right now, its getting cold in Dunedin and winter is approaching. When people think of New Zealand, they think tropical little island. Wrong. Haha. Its actually quite cold in winter. It rained for 6 days straight, we had 2 days of mixed clouds and sunshine, and now it is raining again, ick! We had "southerly" winds the past week and they were freezing.. why?! Because they come from Antartica. haha. crazy concept. So yes, it is fall turning into winter on the other side of the world. It isn't bad, except for the fact that Dunedin houses were 1. built without insulation because back in the day (ours was built in the 1800s), it was really expensive to get thick windows and insulation all the way down here 2. built without central heating... i wake up and see my breath! When we cook dinner, we close the curtains and all doors to keep the heat in haha... It definitely makes me love my warm bed and hot water bottles. im still completely jealous of all of you, i regret shoving the beach in your face in feb!
School:
I had a couple papers due and my first test today. It wasn't bad. I guess I should tell you about one of my professors, Phil. he teaches Exercise Prescription and he is my favorite here. The lecture is at 8, and he usually has about 3 cups of coffee before class and the only reason the rest of us roll of out bed is because it is warmer in the lecture hall than our rooms- haha. He knows most of the class by name and its a lecture of 100+. He even knew my name! I talked to him today after my exam and he started laughing at me. He said I stress too much about school, "you're good mate, its all good..." haha- if only he saw me in the states! yikes.
Friends:
We have been hanging out here watching movies, going out to eat and just hanging out. My friend Jess and I attended a 24 hour book sale- it was awesome. There were thousands of old books for $1 and it was insanely crowded.. I think the whole town was there ; ) Lily and I went on a day hike last weekend around the area which was nice. A group of us rented movies and picked up pizzas last Friday which was fun. We don't make it out to the pubs/bars that often... Flat parties are more common and then people plan to go to town later, but usually we all end up staying put due to the rain, the second bottle of wine, or pure laziness.
Free time:
I have too much of it! I always wish to not have a to-do list and have that afternoon to sleep or read... wish came true and i hate it! I caught myself making a to-do list the other day, "-make dinner -call home" you see where this is going. I had to laugh. I really had nothing to do. I have been reading books and watching movies and tv like its my job! I also started training for a couple races to occupy my time. So yes, its great to just have free time- but im ready to be back and have some purpose- some job or volunteer work. i'm not used to being alone so much- haha. I regret complaining about being surrounded by 70 girls the past two years.
2 months left:
I have exactly two months left abroad- so crazy! I have 2 more weeks of class! I am going tramping this weekend and then next weekend a group of us are traveling up to christchurch to do some sightseeing, shopping, and we are running a 10K. I'm looking forward to it. Then i have 3 weeks of finals, haha so much time. We are planning little trips and hopefully some ski lifts will open and we can go skiing. On June 26, I am leaving for australia! Three friends (jess, david, and john) and I are having an ultimate vacation. We are going to australia for 2 weeks and then the norht island of nz for a week and then we are stopping over in the cook islands for 5 days... I will be arriving in LA, broke and tired, July 19th...! Seems so far, yet it will be here so soon-
Let me know what you will be up to this summer- I'll be around with nothing to do!
Also, look back soon for another entry about interesting facts of new zealand- haha-take care.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Mt. Cook Weekend
Crazy that it is already may and even crazier that I spent the weekend in snow! ... especially after being on a beach 2 weeks ago... haha
A group of 3 friends (jess, james, and lynsey) and I rented a car and drove to Mt. Cook, which is near the center of the south island-and part of the southern alps. We spent the night near Lake Tekapo and the drove to Mt. Cook Village. Mt. Cook is the tallest mountain in NZ... people die every year trying to climb it- only experienced climbers can defeat it because of its sudden storms, ice and snow... so yea, we didnt hike "mt. cook" but we hiked in the same mountain range.
On Friday, we left Dunedin and traveled to Lake Tekapo. We found accomodation right on the lake and then hung out in our seventies decorated little hut. We played cards and enjoyed some wine to celebrate jess' 21st birthday. On Saturday, we woke up and walked a little on Lake Tekapo. It is known to be this crystal blue lake, but since it was cloudly, it looked like a regular lake haha (dont get me wrong, still amazingly beautiful). Once we started driving, we noticed the sun came out and part of the lake was crystal blue. Of course we swerved to the side and started snapping pictures. After an hour drive, we arrive at Mt. Cook Village and had to "sign in our intentions". Just incase we didn't make it to Mueller Hut, they would send helicopters out. haha... we didnt know what we were getting into.
Oh I forgot to mention: a week ago, 2 of my friends did the same hike a week and got stuck in the hut for 3 days! a huge storm came in and they couldnt leave haha. They read the same book twice and sat around waiting for it to clear...
We started the hike, which was flat for 20 minutes, and then steep uphill for three+ hours. First, it was rocky, and then it turned into steep stairs for an hour and a half through shrubbery and rocks. We took a break at sealy lakes for lunch and then continued up into snow! It was another steep hike on rocks and snow all the way uphill, but there was about a foot of snow- It was so much fun to play in it, throw snow balls, eat it, and make snow men. Even though we were exhausted and our legs were burning from continual uphill climbing, we were having a ball. James went ahead because Jess, Lynsey and I were moving at snail pace just taking it all in. We reached the peak and then hiked over to the hut.
The hut was amazing- there were epic views of the mountain ranges, glaciers, and snow. it was incredible. Sitting on a bench just watching the sunset and the sunrise...ah. It was so quiet, except for the random rumbles of avalanches in the nearby mountains. We cooked dinner, played cards, and hung out with a couple from Israel and then 4 kids from Dunedin. Going to bed was quite cold because we were at 1800 feet elevation and the hut wasn't heated. So we layered up and I slept with my sleeping bag over my head. haha. frigid!
The next day we hiked the same route back down. we felt like experienced alpine hikers, until we started descending down hill in the snow. we were slipping and sliding everywhere! I put my rain pants on, so my thermals wouldnt get wet, and when I fell, I just kept sliding down because of the steep descent and my heavy pack. Well after hitting all three of my friends, I continued this method of descending for some good time... until the terrain became rocky- and then it was just painful. I could not stop laughing- I was literally sledding down the mountain on my bum. haha- maybe you had to be there to see this. After 3 hours of climbing down, we were on our way back to dunedin.
It was probably one of my favorite parts of New Zealand. it was unlike anything I have ever seen here and it was just jaw dropping gorgeous. I am frustrated writing this and posting pictures because it does not do it justice. Maybe you just need to fly to new zealand and check it out. haha.
Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2076587&id=21105072&l=13ece13f26
I am in the middle of planning end-of-semester plans... I am looking at being home around the 20th of July after a little trip to Australia, the North Island, and Samoa. More updates coming soon!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Adventure Weekend
I just got back from yet another weekend trip! This time the program I came with, IFSA-Butler, planned and organized an adventure weekend for us. Our group was split in half, so 20 of the students took a trip in the beginning of the month and the rest of us went on a trip this past weekend.
On friday, we all traveled to Te Anau. We stayed at the YHA Hostel and decided to go enjoy a beer at Moose Bar after the long bus ride. I went to Moose Bar earlier in the semester and had a beer after sky diving and absolutely loved it! Well, the beer was still good, but not great- I think the adrenaline and happy emotions played a part in making that beer taste so delicious. haha-
We woke up early on Saturday and headed to the a bird sanctuary. We saw all kinds of endangered birds and nz birds. We enjoyed lunch on Lake Wanaka and then boarded our first boat. We were taking an over night cruise on Doubtful Sound, but we had to take a couple different modes of transportation to reach this isolated place. The only way you can get to the sounds is by air or with a tour company. First, we took an hour boat ride across Lake Wanaka. Then we boarded a bus and traveled 22 km. This is the most isolated and expensive road in new zealand. it cost $2 per centimeter to build! The population was 1! haha. We finally arrived at the sounds and boarded our overnight boat. We cruised around the sounds for awhile. They reminded me of Milford Sound (the other fiordland sounds, that i visited with my mom and sister), but they were much more isolated. I loved them. I felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded with mountains.
We had the opportunity to kayak at night. We all jumped in kayaks and paddled around the area. it was beautiful! so calm and amazing. when we got back on the boat, the sun was setting, but we had the opportunity to go swimming. of course, we all decided to... and the ones that didnt swim were bundled in hats/sweats/winter coats haha.just to give you an idea of the temperature... we jumped off the second story of the boat. When I hit the water, I had trouble swimming to the top because my body was numb/in shock. haha- we jumped a couple of times and then enjoyed a nice shower. They served us a delicious meal and then we spent the night just hanging out/playing games. We all cuddled into one tiny 4-bed room (about 10 of us) to hear a bedtime story. Our friend, John, likes to tell good bedtime stories... He told a good one about a boy named jack from neptune who was trying to get to earth but had trouble getting past the talking/dangerous tree. haha
The next morning we woke up to a rainy day, which is great in the fiordlands becasue it means sweet waterfalls! We all put our rain gear on and rain out to the front of the boat. we spent a good hour playing in the rain... It was so windy, we had trouble standing up- it was a blast! After the end of our cruise, we took the bus ride and boat ride back. We drove to a farm for the last part of our adventure.
When we arrived on the farm, the family cooked us a traditional kiwi barbeque of sausages, coleslaw, bread and butter (not buns), carrots, etc. Then we had 5 races throughout the afternoon. We had to herd sheep in the field...ha we were running around chasing sheep. it was quite hilarious- sometimes the sheep would turn towards us and we just had to run, there was no stopping them! It was fun running around with the sheep, but even better to be a bystander watching the other teams! needless to say, we found out that it is easier to control the dog and let him get the sheep, we just get in the way standing in the field... obviously we arent farm kids. We also got to watch a sheep shearing. It was cool to see, but I did not like it. ick. The professional sheep sheerers were so fast! Out of the top ten fastest sheerers in the world, seven of them are from new zealand!
It was a great weekend, and now we are back in the swing of classes- its crazy to think only 5 more weeks of classes and then finals. Next weekend, we are going to take a hike around mt. cook, the tallest mountain in nz. i'm getting quite used to leaving on the weekends and working during the week...!
Pictures from the weekend: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2076134&id=21105072&l=60d8e1c431
On friday, we all traveled to Te Anau. We stayed at the YHA Hostel and decided to go enjoy a beer at Moose Bar after the long bus ride. I went to Moose Bar earlier in the semester and had a beer after sky diving and absolutely loved it! Well, the beer was still good, but not great- I think the adrenaline and happy emotions played a part in making that beer taste so delicious. haha-
We woke up early on Saturday and headed to the a bird sanctuary. We saw all kinds of endangered birds and nz birds. We enjoyed lunch on Lake Wanaka and then boarded our first boat. We were taking an over night cruise on Doubtful Sound, but we had to take a couple different modes of transportation to reach this isolated place. The only way you can get to the sounds is by air or with a tour company. First, we took an hour boat ride across Lake Wanaka. Then we boarded a bus and traveled 22 km. This is the most isolated and expensive road in new zealand. it cost $2 per centimeter to build! The population was 1! haha. We finally arrived at the sounds and boarded our overnight boat. We cruised around the sounds for awhile. They reminded me of Milford Sound (the other fiordland sounds, that i visited with my mom and sister), but they were much more isolated. I loved them. I felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded with mountains.
We had the opportunity to kayak at night. We all jumped in kayaks and paddled around the area. it was beautiful! so calm and amazing. when we got back on the boat, the sun was setting, but we had the opportunity to go swimming. of course, we all decided to... and the ones that didnt swim were bundled in hats/sweats/winter coats haha.just to give you an idea of the temperature... we jumped off the second story of the boat. When I hit the water, I had trouble swimming to the top because my body was numb/in shock. haha- we jumped a couple of times and then enjoyed a nice shower. They served us a delicious meal and then we spent the night just hanging out/playing games. We all cuddled into one tiny 4-bed room (about 10 of us) to hear a bedtime story. Our friend, John, likes to tell good bedtime stories... He told a good one about a boy named jack from neptune who was trying to get to earth but had trouble getting past the talking/dangerous tree. haha
The next morning we woke up to a rainy day, which is great in the fiordlands becasue it means sweet waterfalls! We all put our rain gear on and rain out to the front of the boat. we spent a good hour playing in the rain... It was so windy, we had trouble standing up- it was a blast! After the end of our cruise, we took the bus ride and boat ride back. We drove to a farm for the last part of our adventure.
When we arrived on the farm, the family cooked us a traditional kiwi barbeque of sausages, coleslaw, bread and butter (not buns), carrots, etc. Then we had 5 races throughout the afternoon. We had to herd sheep in the field...ha we were running around chasing sheep. it was quite hilarious- sometimes the sheep would turn towards us and we just had to run, there was no stopping them! It was fun running around with the sheep, but even better to be a bystander watching the other teams! needless to say, we found out that it is easier to control the dog and let him get the sheep, we just get in the way standing in the field... obviously we arent farm kids. We also got to watch a sheep shearing. It was cool to see, but I did not like it. ick. The professional sheep sheerers were so fast! Out of the top ten fastest sheerers in the world, seven of them are from new zealand!
It was a great weekend, and now we are back in the swing of classes- its crazy to think only 5 more weeks of classes and then finals. Next weekend, we are going to take a hike around mt. cook, the tallest mountain in nz. i'm getting quite used to leaving on the weekends and working during the week...!
Pictures from the weekend: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2076134&id=21105072&l=60d8e1c431
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Mid-Semester Break!
So I returned from mid-semester break on Monday night... this marks the halfway (a little over halfway actually) point of my experience abroad. I have one more month of actual classes and then a month for finals... I have finals on June 10, 20, and 24. and then I am done and kicked out of my housing. Over a lovely Thai dinner last night, a couple of friends and I discussed this craziness. We decided that we still wanted to travel the north island and australia before this time was up... so I think we are all going to stay till mid-late july and travel (we have to look at money and all of the logistics still). I'm not ready to come home yet! I miss all of my friends and family, but I am having the time of my life. I probably won't find work at home in this economy and I don't want to sit around for 2 months... so yea, ill keep you posted on my post-travel plans!
For mid-semester break, Lynsey and I took a bus up to Christchurch for a night. We went and had a couple of drinks at our hostel bar and met some funny people! This was the night before good friday, so many people were out because they did not have work the next day. We asked a man if Easter was big in new zealand because everyone was off of work on Friday. He said, "well, easter is a three days off of work. big barbeques and games going on this weekend" So different than home. I would not have known it was around easter if the cadbury factory was not in dunedin. I have been surrounded with chocolate eggs for a month now. haha We met a guy with a mohawk who was just traveling. I asked him how long he has been traveling and he said, "about three years now". crazy! he just picked up and left England and has been working/traveling. Talk about living day to day and check to check.
The next day we got back on a bus and traveled to Nelson, which is on the northern coast of the south island. We met Lynsey's boyfriend, chris, at the bus station (he is studying in wellington and took a ferry to the south island). The three of us went to our hostel, Bridgestreet Backpackers.. which was a little sketchy, but cheap! We went to get dehydrated meals for the 6 days we were going to be in the wilderness... and found out that all the camping stores were closed for good friday! We also discovered that I had left my debit card in dunedin at MacPac (a camping store that I was shopping at on thursday)... so I was without money and without a bank and we were all without food for our trip due to good friday! The supermarket isn't even open on good friday, but my kiwihost told me they were open on christmas. We went out to eat and the place charged an extra 15% because it was a holiday. It's cool that employs have off on holidays and are not overworked, but in our situation, it wasn't so cool!
We woke up the next morning and ran to the supermarket at 7 am before our bus at 7:30... they didn't have dehydrated meals, so we got some other stuff and took a bus to the start of the Abel Tasman National Park. We stopped at a convience store to see if they had dehydrated meals... no such luck- but we found some other stuff for the last couple of meals. Then we finally started hiking! We hiked for a good four hours and the track is right along the coast. It was in a rainforest and beaches were over our shoulder. Sometimes the track went along the beaches, which seems like a cool idea- till you walk with 30 pounds on your back wobbling all over and sliding... haha We camped at torrent bay and went to play on an island at low tide. The three of us squeezed into a 2 person tent all week... it was quite the close quarters.
The next morning (Easter!) we had some oatmeal and then started hiking. The tide came in and now the island was back to being... an island. the tides here are insane! we had to plan our trip so that we would hit certain parts at low tide or we would have to wait hours because the tides came and filled up bays with waist deep water. This was our longer day. We ran into a couple friends doing the track hte opposite way and they got stuck by a tide and didnt start until 4 pm... needless to say they still had along way to go and the sun was about to set. We also met four boys studying in dunedin (from the states) while hiking. at our campsite at night, we cooked an easter dinner of rice and mexican spiced meat ( I missed the traditional big ham dinner!) there was a family staying at our campsite and the little kids invited us to their bonfire. it was so fun to hang out with a family from new zealand, they were so nice and the kids were hiking the track for a couple days and loved it- they even had little backpacks.
The next morning, I enjoyed breakfast on the beach and we headed off. We had an easy day today, as we were only going to the end of the track (about 3.5 hours). We hiked to our next campsite which was on Mutton Cove and we were the only ones there. We had all afternoon to hang out, so we went swimming (in the freezing water!) because we felt dirty and smelly... and I read while lynsey and chris hiked a little further to separation point. At night, the moon lit up the entire beach it was crazy! I tried to capture it with my camera, but it didn't work. We thought someone was there with a flashlight it was so bright. We were camping right on the beach. It was so nice to go to sleep hearing the waves crash... In the middle of the night chris heard something and woke up to find a wild boar on our campsite. haha.
We had some time to kill the next morning becasue we only had a two hour back track hike to catch the water taxi. We went swimming again and hung out. We were on the beach and there were sea lions swimming right infront of us! We hiked for a little while and then ran into some friends also waiting for a taxi and made plans to meet up later in the week. The water taxi was fun. It was just a boat that took us to the start of the track. When we got to the end, a tractor with a boat lift pulled us out of the water (it was lowtide) and drove on the street to the little taxi office... we got a sweet ride in a boat... on land. haha it was funny. We spent the night at Old McDonald Farm and made oodles of noodles (ramen noodles) for dinner... for some reason they tasted amazing! The farm had all kinds of animals and birds, we went on a walk to look at them all. We opted to stay in a three bed cabin to give ourselves some space for a night haha.
the next day, we were set to start kayaking. After our briefing, repacking, etc. etc. we were back on the track, only this time we were in the water! It was beautiful. There were a couple islands that we paddled out to and we listened to the birds, and watched sea lions play on the rocks. It was fun to be on the water, I thought i was in a completely different place. We got to our campsite at night and there were 6 more guys from dunedin staying there as well. They were also from the states- so we hung out with them for the evening. It was a blast. we sat around talking. I talked with a boy who biked across america with his members of the same fraternity from all over the states and raised all this money for his philanthrophy. I love hearing stories about what other people do... definitely makes my before-i-die-list extremely long though. haha. That is my favorite part about traveling, meeting all these cool people. At night we heard these loud crying sounds, so we decided to grab our torches and go explore. We went in a cave on the beach and there were glowworms! and then we figured out the crying sound were penguins!! We were on the beach in the middle of nature watching penguins... it was awesome.
The next day we got back in our kayaks and it was rainy and windy. The swells were over 2 feet and hard to paddle in. We did out best in the rain and had fun, but Chris had a lot of trouble keeping balance in the single kayak. He went to the beach and we continued kayaking because we wanted to go to split apple rock. Going there was easy, but as soon as we took a picture, lynsey and I turned around and saw a black sky, pouring rain, and white caps (4 ft swells)... oh no. we just looked at eaachother in pure panic. We did our best and maneuvered back... haha it took awhile and we were exhausted, cold, and wet. haha. At night, we were back in nelson and we took warm showers. Much appreciated after 6 days without one. then we went out to eat and had delicious, real food. yummm... There is nothing like the feeling of enjoying a good meal after camping.
The next day we went east to picton. Lynsey and I took a mailboat cruise in the marlborough sounds. It was fun, we delivered mail to people living in this remote area. People lived in these houses, without neighbors, and no road to drive out of... all by boat! talk about isolation... We got to see dolphins on our way back in. At night, we styaed at the sweetest hostel with our friends david, john and laura. We had a blast. We all cooked dinner and just hung around listening to music. At 8 the hostel gave us free chocolate pudding (it was more like cake) and then we went in the hot tub. We had a big sleepover in our room and stayed up talking, it was a blast to hang out with them.
Lynsey and I were headed to Blenheim to do a wine tour the next day. We found a hostel and started our wine tour by bike around 1. We had four hours and hundreds of wineries on a map. We visited seven in that time. It was a blast! The wineries were beautiful, the wine was amazing, and the people were great. The vineyards were right infront of the mountains, and it was so sunny! We actually ran into the four boys from dunedin that we met in the beginning of our hike... they were doing the tours by bike as well! haha. small place. We didnt feel the effects of our alcohol intake because we biked so much inbetween, but it sure was a blast.
At night we went out to eat and hung out at our hostel. We met people that were living/working in the area... they were all travelers, but they have been in new zealand for awhile, just working for a week and then traveling to the next place. It is crazy to think about all these people just leaving for a couple years to explore a new place. I asked a guy if he liked doiing it and he said, "yea, its great... sometimes its lonely and i wish my friends were here, but they will be there when I get back and i wouldnt exchange this experience for anything." Its not like these people are just traveling, they are living by traveling. Lynsey and I had a good laugh that we had an itinerary for a 12 day vaca and these people don't have one for years. haha...
The next day we took a bus to kaikoura. It was really foggy out and windy. We went and swam with the dolphins. There is a huge crater in the ocean floor, producing nutrients, which brings all the large mammals closer to the shore. We were in wet suits (once again, the ocean water is FREEZING!) and we would sit on the back of the boat. The captain would toot a little horn and we woudl jump in the water. We swam in circles, sang songs, and attracted the dolphins. They would swim right past us or in circles around us. It wasn't like sea world, we didnt grab their fins or touch them. These were wild dolphins, unfed, untrained, living in their natural habitat! It was awesome. at one point, I had three dolphins just swimming around me! haha... at night, lynsey and I went out for thai food and then watched a movie- we were exhausted!
And that concludes my amazing break! I came back and told my kiwihost that I needed to catch up on life. a phrase, I often use... she laughed and said, "it seems to me that you were just living life and now you need to catch up on all your sh*t. this isn't life. what you were doing the past week was life."
i'll end on that note!
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2075908&id=21105072&l=4b9a0627bb
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2075912&id=21105072&l=61dd79ce80
For mid-semester break, Lynsey and I took a bus up to Christchurch for a night. We went and had a couple of drinks at our hostel bar and met some funny people! This was the night before good friday, so many people were out because they did not have work the next day. We asked a man if Easter was big in new zealand because everyone was off of work on Friday. He said, "well, easter is a three days off of work. big barbeques and games going on this weekend" So different than home. I would not have known it was around easter if the cadbury factory was not in dunedin. I have been surrounded with chocolate eggs for a month now. haha We met a guy with a mohawk who was just traveling. I asked him how long he has been traveling and he said, "about three years now". crazy! he just picked up and left England and has been working/traveling. Talk about living day to day and check to check.
The next day we got back on a bus and traveled to Nelson, which is on the northern coast of the south island. We met Lynsey's boyfriend, chris, at the bus station (he is studying in wellington and took a ferry to the south island). The three of us went to our hostel, Bridgestreet Backpackers.. which was a little sketchy, but cheap! We went to get dehydrated meals for the 6 days we were going to be in the wilderness... and found out that all the camping stores were closed for good friday! We also discovered that I had left my debit card in dunedin at MacPac (a camping store that I was shopping at on thursday)... so I was without money and without a bank and we were all without food for our trip due to good friday! The supermarket isn't even open on good friday, but my kiwihost told me they were open on christmas. We went out to eat and the place charged an extra 15% because it was a holiday. It's cool that employs have off on holidays and are not overworked, but in our situation, it wasn't so cool!
We woke up the next morning and ran to the supermarket at 7 am before our bus at 7:30... they didn't have dehydrated meals, so we got some other stuff and took a bus to the start of the Abel Tasman National Park. We stopped at a convience store to see if they had dehydrated meals... no such luck- but we found some other stuff for the last couple of meals. Then we finally started hiking! We hiked for a good four hours and the track is right along the coast. It was in a rainforest and beaches were over our shoulder. Sometimes the track went along the beaches, which seems like a cool idea- till you walk with 30 pounds on your back wobbling all over and sliding... haha We camped at torrent bay and went to play on an island at low tide. The three of us squeezed into a 2 person tent all week... it was quite the close quarters.
The next morning (Easter!) we had some oatmeal and then started hiking. The tide came in and now the island was back to being... an island. the tides here are insane! we had to plan our trip so that we would hit certain parts at low tide or we would have to wait hours because the tides came and filled up bays with waist deep water. This was our longer day. We ran into a couple friends doing the track hte opposite way and they got stuck by a tide and didnt start until 4 pm... needless to say they still had along way to go and the sun was about to set. We also met four boys studying in dunedin (from the states) while hiking. at our campsite at night, we cooked an easter dinner of rice and mexican spiced meat ( I missed the traditional big ham dinner!) there was a family staying at our campsite and the little kids invited us to their bonfire. it was so fun to hang out with a family from new zealand, they were so nice and the kids were hiking the track for a couple days and loved it- they even had little backpacks.
The next morning, I enjoyed breakfast on the beach and we headed off. We had an easy day today, as we were only going to the end of the track (about 3.5 hours). We hiked to our next campsite which was on Mutton Cove and we were the only ones there. We had all afternoon to hang out, so we went swimming (in the freezing water!) because we felt dirty and smelly... and I read while lynsey and chris hiked a little further to separation point. At night, the moon lit up the entire beach it was crazy! I tried to capture it with my camera, but it didn't work. We thought someone was there with a flashlight it was so bright. We were camping right on the beach. It was so nice to go to sleep hearing the waves crash... In the middle of the night chris heard something and woke up to find a wild boar on our campsite. haha.
We had some time to kill the next morning becasue we only had a two hour back track hike to catch the water taxi. We went swimming again and hung out. We were on the beach and there were sea lions swimming right infront of us! We hiked for a little while and then ran into some friends also waiting for a taxi and made plans to meet up later in the week. The water taxi was fun. It was just a boat that took us to the start of the track. When we got to the end, a tractor with a boat lift pulled us out of the water (it was lowtide) and drove on the street to the little taxi office... we got a sweet ride in a boat... on land. haha it was funny. We spent the night at Old McDonald Farm and made oodles of noodles (ramen noodles) for dinner... for some reason they tasted amazing! The farm had all kinds of animals and birds, we went on a walk to look at them all. We opted to stay in a three bed cabin to give ourselves some space for a night haha.
the next day, we were set to start kayaking. After our briefing, repacking, etc. etc. we were back on the track, only this time we were in the water! It was beautiful. There were a couple islands that we paddled out to and we listened to the birds, and watched sea lions play on the rocks. It was fun to be on the water, I thought i was in a completely different place. We got to our campsite at night and there were 6 more guys from dunedin staying there as well. They were also from the states- so we hung out with them for the evening. It was a blast. we sat around talking. I talked with a boy who biked across america with his members of the same fraternity from all over the states and raised all this money for his philanthrophy. I love hearing stories about what other people do... definitely makes my before-i-die-list extremely long though. haha. That is my favorite part about traveling, meeting all these cool people. At night we heard these loud crying sounds, so we decided to grab our torches and go explore. We went in a cave on the beach and there were glowworms! and then we figured out the crying sound were penguins!! We were on the beach in the middle of nature watching penguins... it was awesome.
The next day we got back in our kayaks and it was rainy and windy. The swells were over 2 feet and hard to paddle in. We did out best in the rain and had fun, but Chris had a lot of trouble keeping balance in the single kayak. He went to the beach and we continued kayaking because we wanted to go to split apple rock. Going there was easy, but as soon as we took a picture, lynsey and I turned around and saw a black sky, pouring rain, and white caps (4 ft swells)... oh no. we just looked at eaachother in pure panic. We did our best and maneuvered back... haha it took awhile and we were exhausted, cold, and wet. haha. At night, we were back in nelson and we took warm showers. Much appreciated after 6 days without one. then we went out to eat and had delicious, real food. yummm... There is nothing like the feeling of enjoying a good meal after camping.
The next day we went east to picton. Lynsey and I took a mailboat cruise in the marlborough sounds. It was fun, we delivered mail to people living in this remote area. People lived in these houses, without neighbors, and no road to drive out of... all by boat! talk about isolation... We got to see dolphins on our way back in. At night, we styaed at the sweetest hostel with our friends david, john and laura. We had a blast. We all cooked dinner and just hung around listening to music. At 8 the hostel gave us free chocolate pudding (it was more like cake) and then we went in the hot tub. We had a big sleepover in our room and stayed up talking, it was a blast to hang out with them.
Lynsey and I were headed to Blenheim to do a wine tour the next day. We found a hostel and started our wine tour by bike around 1. We had four hours and hundreds of wineries on a map. We visited seven in that time. It was a blast! The wineries were beautiful, the wine was amazing, and the people were great. The vineyards were right infront of the mountains, and it was so sunny! We actually ran into the four boys from dunedin that we met in the beginning of our hike... they were doing the tours by bike as well! haha. small place. We didnt feel the effects of our alcohol intake because we biked so much inbetween, but it sure was a blast.
At night we went out to eat and hung out at our hostel. We met people that were living/working in the area... they were all travelers, but they have been in new zealand for awhile, just working for a week and then traveling to the next place. It is crazy to think about all these people just leaving for a couple years to explore a new place. I asked a guy if he liked doiing it and he said, "yea, its great... sometimes its lonely and i wish my friends were here, but they will be there when I get back and i wouldnt exchange this experience for anything." Its not like these people are just traveling, they are living by traveling. Lynsey and I had a good laugh that we had an itinerary for a 12 day vaca and these people don't have one for years. haha...
The next day we took a bus to kaikoura. It was really foggy out and windy. We went and swam with the dolphins. There is a huge crater in the ocean floor, producing nutrients, which brings all the large mammals closer to the shore. We were in wet suits (once again, the ocean water is FREEZING!) and we would sit on the back of the boat. The captain would toot a little horn and we woudl jump in the water. We swam in circles, sang songs, and attracted the dolphins. They would swim right past us or in circles around us. It wasn't like sea world, we didnt grab their fins or touch them. These were wild dolphins, unfed, untrained, living in their natural habitat! It was awesome. at one point, I had three dolphins just swimming around me! haha... at night, lynsey and I went out for thai food and then watched a movie- we were exhausted!
And that concludes my amazing break! I came back and told my kiwihost that I needed to catch up on life. a phrase, I often use... she laughed and said, "it seems to me that you were just living life and now you need to catch up on all your sh*t. this isn't life. what you were doing the past week was life."
i'll end on that note!
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2075908&id=21105072&l=4b9a0627bb
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2075912&id=21105072&l=61dd79ce80
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