Road Trip!

I just got back from a 6 day road trip with a couple of my friends! Right before we left, we went to a rugby game right in town. A group of us made dinner, drank some local beer, and painted our faces for the big game. We took the bus to Carrisbrook stadium and watched the Highlanders. Rugby is intense! There is a huge student section in the stadium, which makes the atmosphere more social and fun.

On Saturday, David, Erica, Hannah, Zach, and I rented a car to tour the southern coast of the south island. Originally it was only three of us, so we rented a tiny Nissan. It was quite comical trying to fit all of our clothes, tents, sleeping bags, and food into the car. Haha. We also thought that peanut butter and jelly would be sufficient for 6 days, so we neglected to bring real food and cooking utensils. Oh and don’t forget that New Zealand drives on the left side of the road!

It was quite the adventure! We drove the southern coast and stopped at numerous beaches, lookout points, and waterfalls. We stopped at Nugget Point lighthouse, which was beautiful! Our first campsite was right on the ocean, so we enjoyed our first dinner of pb and j and wine on the beach. The weather was sunny and perfect during the day with occasional rain, and at night, it was quite cold! Many people think New Zealand is warm, but they are mistaken. I will wake up and it will be rainy and freezing, by midday it will be hot enough for a t-shirt, and then by three p.m. it will be back down to 50 and cloudy. Typically, you experience 4 seasons in one day. Craziness! Anyways, back to the trip. The following day we saw a couple waterfalls and tunnels and slept on Curio Bay, which is a petrified forest. At night we went out to the beach around sunset and watched 15-20 penguins come in from the sea to meet their families and return to their habitat. We were 10 feet from real live penguins. It was crazy! Sea lions were also everywhere, we had to camp at a certain spot, so we wouldn’t wake up with them on our tent! The next night we camped at Invercargill at the Amble on Inn… haha, we got a kick out of the name. It was an interesting campsite next to a sheep farm, a road, and a carpenter.

The next day was amazing! We drove up to Te Anu and went skydiving! We met a lady at one of the stop offs and she told us how she went skydiving in Te Anu, so we looked into it and booked within 5 hours. We were signing our papers at this small little hut and we asked the owner if we could check the box that said “I have heard all the rules and precautions, etc. etc.” and he said, “oh yea. Well there is the bathroom, we keep the planes there, and you go up one at a time.” And the box was checked! I think it was this point that I finally realized that I was in New Zealand. The sheet also said that if anything were to happen, it is almost impossible to sue in New Zealand. LeeRoy was the skydiver that evening and he was awesome! We each went up separately with only LeeRoy and the pilot in the plane. He gave us a tour of Fiordland National Park. The scenery was beautiful! You could see lakes, rivers, mountains, etc. After a 20 minute tour we were ready to skydive! LeeRoy attached our harnesses and pushed me towards the edge. My favorite part was when LeeRoy pushed me over the edge, so I was floating while he was sitting on the edge of the plane. We freefell for 60 seconds and it was epic! We were head first flying down while looking at the mountains and sky. Then he opened the parachute and we floated, flipped, and turned all the way down to the ground. It was such an adrenaline rush! I highly recommend skydiving!

We slept on Lake TeAnu the next two nights. It was a beautiful lake with mountains right behind it. The next day we drove up to Milford Sound, which was full of mountains, glaciers, valleys, and water! It was gorgeous. I am excited to do a cruise there when my mom and Deanne come in a couple weeks.

Overall our road trip was a blast! We returned to the rainy, cold weather of Dunedin. I registered for my classes yesterday. I am excited for school to start. My professors seem amazing and the exercise science/physical education department here is sweet as. I couldn’t get into a class because I did not have the prerequisites, so I asked a professor if there was anyway I could still take the paper (what they call a course). He went to talk to the other professor and came back and said, “Can you bring a six pack to the first class?” I laughed and said yes…and that was it, he signed my paper. Haha I am taking psychology of sport, exercise prescription, sport organization, and a philosophy course over morals and ethics. I only have class Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays… and therefore, I have a lot of free time in my schedule.

Orientation week is about to start, which sounds insane! It is full of concerts, tents, parties, and events. Everything here is great. I am getting used to life in New Zealand, the ups and the downs. It is interesting to not have internet at my fingertips, limited electricity, and no central heating, but I am slowly getting used to it. I am stoked for all of my flatmates to arrive and more students!

Check out my pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2072150&id=21105072&l=4345e
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2071711&id=21105072&l=4e9b1

Cheers-