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