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
Sunday, April 26, 2009
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
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Mt. Somers
I just got back from a weekend trip with a couple of friends. It was a blast!
On Friday, we packed up and left around one. John, Julie, Laura, and I planned to do a tramp (hike) 4 hours north of Dunedin. John brought along his guitar, Baby Blue (its a bright blue guitar), and played us tunes in the backseat. He just bought the guitar off trade-me and is learning how to play... haha, he likes to sing too- ill have to upload a video of this. On the way, We stopped at the boulders and played around. We all set our cameras on one boulder, started our timers, and sprinted to the other boulders to take a picture of ourselves. We looked like nuts trying to run and jump on the other boulders. Some of the pictures were hilarious. Then we continued our journey north to Mt. Somers Holiday Park, where we camped for the night. We set up our tents and then made a delicious dinner. We made chicken stirfry with fresh vegetables and rice... yum. We drank some wine, played the guitar, looked at the stars, and called it a night. It was a little chilly at night so we opted to squeeze into one tent and cuddle to stay warm.
The next morning we woke up, and Julie made us oatmeal (with brown sugar, cinnamin and apples!). Then we piled into the car and headed to the trail head. [Side story: Laura bought an old car in NZ and she has been having trouble with the battery. She took it to a mechanic who realized that her battery was draining her power when it wasn't on, so he installed an on/off switch on her battery. So anytime we wanted to turn the car on, Laura had to say, "Can you pop the hood? I need to turn my car on." For some reason, I thought this was hilarious. I am still laughing about it. I love that this is completely acceptable in new zealand.] So we got to the trail head and decided to do the tramp the opposite way so that our long day was on Saturday, not Sunday. When we started hiking, John and Julie were moving quite quickly, and Laura and I were falling behind. After about a half hour, Laura and I told them to go ahead and do the summit climb (it was a turnoff of the path and an hour climb straight up to the top of Mt.Somers) and we would meet. The plan was to either meet them at the bottom or put an x over their packs if we were moving on (climbers leave their packs at the bottom of the summit just off the track because it is hard to climb with all that weight). So after a good hour, we come across a sign that says distances/times and start taking pictures with our shadows... We only saw one path so we started hiking. It was a straight path up hill (over loose rocks). We were dying! At points we were on all fours trying to climb up. We stopped a couple times and opened the guide book trying to figure out if we were on the right path. It said the summit was well marked with orange poles and rocks... well we looked around and we were surrounded by orange poles and rocks. We started to worry, but didnt want to turn back incase it was the right path. After a good hour and a half of this intense climb, we saw john and julie at the top (without packs haha). We screamed up and this is how our conversation went:
us: ARE WE ON THE SUMMIT?!
them: Yes, were on the summit.
us: NO ARE WE ON THE SUMMIT?
them: YES
us: $%&%#$#@#!!!!!!!
So they came down and met us... We had a good laugh that we just climbed the summit with packs (no sane person does this) and had no clue that we were even on the summit. We missed the sign and their packs! oh lord! the summit is 1687 meters, and we climbed a good portion of it. this is what the guide book says about the climb "No matter where you begin, this is a demanding climb for phsycailly fit trampers with experience in New Zealand's mountains." haha. story of our trip! We had to slide down the rocks, which was not an easy task with our packs on. We were slipping all over the place. We arrived at the bottom to see the big sign and their packs, literally in the middle of the path.
We continued on because we had another good 6 hours until we arrived at the hut. About an hour in, we wanted to stop for lunch and heard from other trampers that there was a little rest hut closeby... well we got tired before that and John said we should go 15 more minutes and then stop if we dont see the hut. We got impatient and stopped before then (I dont think i could have moved another leg without some food for energy)... John refilled our water bottles (yes right from the stream) and got attacked by a bird! haha. It was shaking its tailfeathers at him... oh it was one of those days! So we continued on after lunch and what do you know... ten minutes later we found the hut! haha.
We continued hiking the rest of the day and had beautiful mountain views! it was epic, but the climb was hard. There were so many up/down hills... I thought my legs were going to give out. There was one point where we saw a cliff face and were taking pictures, only to realize 20 minutes later that we were climbing it! I almost cried. haha. We finally arrived at the hut just before it got pitch black (after 10 hours of hiking) to find it was family fun night at the hut. All these little kids running around. The huts in nz are awesome. They have tables, bathrooms, a fire, sinks, and beds and it is pretty cheap. We went to make dinner and our stove didnt work (go figure) haha but a nice lady let us use hers to make some pasta. We went to bed shortly after, we were beat! Sleeping with 20 people in one room reminded me of the cold dorm back at Theta. It was like two long rows on bunk beds all conjoined. haha. It was great, except for the fact that 5/20 people snored, so we had a little band playing through the night.
Since it was daylight savings, we woke up extra early to get a head start on our day. We were sore. We found these cool rocks that were carved out by water and then continued on our day of hiking. it was extremely windy today so we were happy that we did the route the opposite way (otherwise we would have been swept away!) You would lift your leg to walk, and the wind would put it somewhere else. We were tripping all over the place... haha. These are the times I wish i had a video camera. After descending for awhile, we were in a rainforest, next to a river. It was beautiful! But we kept slipping and sliding becasue our feet got wet in the rivers and then we were climbing rocks. I had a couple nice bruises from falls- it was a good laugh once again. We made great timing and arrived in the parking lot around 1:30 (only about 6 hours of hiking today). We changed clothes and headed out. We stopped at mcdonalds to feast on some good food (notice our translation of good food). haha.
I got back to my flat last night and just layed around and watched greys and private practice. nz is starting to finally catch up to the spot in the season right before i left. In two weeks, I will be seeing the episodes that I missed! woot woot.
Today I am catching up on school work, etc and I leave on Thursday for mid-semester break!
Check out my pictures from the hike and some from dunedin (copy and paste the link):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074927&id=21105072&l=63b1bf0eb0
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074957&id=21105072&l=79fda584c8
On Friday, we packed up and left around one. John, Julie, Laura, and I planned to do a tramp (hike) 4 hours north of Dunedin. John brought along his guitar, Baby Blue (its a bright blue guitar), and played us tunes in the backseat. He just bought the guitar off trade-me and is learning how to play... haha, he likes to sing too- ill have to upload a video of this. On the way, We stopped at the boulders and played around. We all set our cameras on one boulder, started our timers, and sprinted to the other boulders to take a picture of ourselves. We looked like nuts trying to run and jump on the other boulders. Some of the pictures were hilarious. Then we continued our journey north to Mt. Somers Holiday Park, where we camped for the night. We set up our tents and then made a delicious dinner. We made chicken stirfry with fresh vegetables and rice... yum. We drank some wine, played the guitar, looked at the stars, and called it a night. It was a little chilly at night so we opted to squeeze into one tent and cuddle to stay warm.
The next morning we woke up, and Julie made us oatmeal (with brown sugar, cinnamin and apples!). Then we piled into the car and headed to the trail head. [Side story: Laura bought an old car in NZ and she has been having trouble with the battery. She took it to a mechanic who realized that her battery was draining her power when it wasn't on, so he installed an on/off switch on her battery. So anytime we wanted to turn the car on, Laura had to say, "Can you pop the hood? I need to turn my car on." For some reason, I thought this was hilarious. I am still laughing about it. I love that this is completely acceptable in new zealand.] So we got to the trail head and decided to do the tramp the opposite way so that our long day was on Saturday, not Sunday. When we started hiking, John and Julie were moving quite quickly, and Laura and I were falling behind. After about a half hour, Laura and I told them to go ahead and do the summit climb (it was a turnoff of the path and an hour climb straight up to the top of Mt.Somers) and we would meet. The plan was to either meet them at the bottom or put an x over their packs if we were moving on (climbers leave their packs at the bottom of the summit just off the track because it is hard to climb with all that weight). So after a good hour, we come across a sign that says distances/times and start taking pictures with our shadows... We only saw one path so we started hiking. It was a straight path up hill (over loose rocks). We were dying! At points we were on all fours trying to climb up. We stopped a couple times and opened the guide book trying to figure out if we were on the right path. It said the summit was well marked with orange poles and rocks... well we looked around and we were surrounded by orange poles and rocks. We started to worry, but didnt want to turn back incase it was the right path. After a good hour and a half of this intense climb, we saw john and julie at the top (without packs haha). We screamed up and this is how our conversation went:
us: ARE WE ON THE SUMMIT?!
them: Yes, were on the summit.
us: NO ARE WE ON THE SUMMIT?
them: YES
us: $%&%#$#@#!!!!!!!
So they came down and met us... We had a good laugh that we just climbed the summit with packs (no sane person does this) and had no clue that we were even on the summit. We missed the sign and their packs! oh lord! the summit is 1687 meters, and we climbed a good portion of it. this is what the guide book says about the climb "No matter where you begin, this is a demanding climb for phsycailly fit trampers with experience in New Zealand's mountains." haha. story of our trip! We had to slide down the rocks, which was not an easy task with our packs on. We were slipping all over the place. We arrived at the bottom to see the big sign and their packs, literally in the middle of the path.
We continued on because we had another good 6 hours until we arrived at the hut. About an hour in, we wanted to stop for lunch and heard from other trampers that there was a little rest hut closeby... well we got tired before that and John said we should go 15 more minutes and then stop if we dont see the hut. We got impatient and stopped before then (I dont think i could have moved another leg without some food for energy)... John refilled our water bottles (yes right from the stream) and got attacked by a bird! haha. It was shaking its tailfeathers at him... oh it was one of those days! So we continued on after lunch and what do you know... ten minutes later we found the hut! haha.
We continued hiking the rest of the day and had beautiful mountain views! it was epic, but the climb was hard. There were so many up/down hills... I thought my legs were going to give out. There was one point where we saw a cliff face and were taking pictures, only to realize 20 minutes later that we were climbing it! I almost cried. haha. We finally arrived at the hut just before it got pitch black (after 10 hours of hiking) to find it was family fun night at the hut. All these little kids running around. The huts in nz are awesome. They have tables, bathrooms, a fire, sinks, and beds and it is pretty cheap. We went to make dinner and our stove didnt work (go figure) haha but a nice lady let us use hers to make some pasta. We went to bed shortly after, we were beat! Sleeping with 20 people in one room reminded me of the cold dorm back at Theta. It was like two long rows on bunk beds all conjoined. haha. It was great, except for the fact that 5/20 people snored, so we had a little band playing through the night.
Since it was daylight savings, we woke up extra early to get a head start on our day. We were sore. We found these cool rocks that were carved out by water and then continued on our day of hiking. it was extremely windy today so we were happy that we did the route the opposite way (otherwise we would have been swept away!) You would lift your leg to walk, and the wind would put it somewhere else. We were tripping all over the place... haha. These are the times I wish i had a video camera. After descending for awhile, we were in a rainforest, next to a river. It was beautiful! But we kept slipping and sliding becasue our feet got wet in the rivers and then we were climbing rocks. I had a couple nice bruises from falls- it was a good laugh once again. We made great timing and arrived in the parking lot around 1:30 (only about 6 hours of hiking today). We changed clothes and headed out. We stopped at mcdonalds to feast on some good food (notice our translation of good food). haha.
I got back to my flat last night and just layed around and watched greys and private practice. nz is starting to finally catch up to the spot in the season right before i left. In two weeks, I will be seeing the episodes that I missed! woot woot.
Today I am catching up on school work, etc and I leave on Thursday for mid-semester break!
Check out my pictures from the hike and some from dunedin (copy and paste the link):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074927&id=21105072&l=63b1bf0eb0
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074957&id=21105072&l=79fda584c8
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Real Life
Maybe I should rephrase my title... back to reality, responsibility, and work. haha.
I spent the last week catching up in school, going to classes, and planning mid-semester break. I caught myself complaining about having to write a paper and do work, only to stop myself to realize that 1. I am writing the paper in the botanical gardens in 75 degree weather (extremely hot and rare for this time of year)2.I only have four papers due, 1 project, and 4 tests for all my classes for the entire semester 3. its a paper... 4. im in new zealand! Isnt it funny how you easy it is to complain about EVERYTHING?! My kiwi host asked me what I did when I actually took 6 classes at Butler (complain ten times more)... I had to laugh. Whenever you ask a kiwi to imitate an American, they usually complain... mocking us. They will say,"I have a hang over. I feel sick. My head hurts" and then laugh and explain "of course you have a hang over, you drank 20 beers and a bottle of wine. suck it up mate" sad story. haha-
So lets see, I don't have that many updates! This was one of the first weekends I spent just hanging out in Dunedin... I thought it was a good idea, but i missed traveling! On Friday, Jess, Molly and I walked into town to see a movie (slumdog millionare)... amazing! The theater was so cute- it was a packed house with about 25 of us. haha- we had a great time. Yesterday I went shopping in town and got my haircut. They cut hair kind of funky, but I liked it... now only if I could gather the courage to have dreads or a streak of red or blue. haha--jk Today I wrote my paper and took a hike up to Signal Hill, which is a 5 minute walk away, 45 minute hike to a look out over the city. It was a perfect day for it, clear blue skies.
Oh... I have two updates... first, I have a new friend! His name is Stuart. Mom and Deanne had the pleasure of meeting him as well. he lives in my wall (hes a mouse). Every morning he wakes me with some scratches and I talk back with some knocks... I really like having my new friend, but I want to sleep in... so I set my first mouse trap today! jay and jeremiah told me they would take care of it if I caught it. how nice it is to have male roommates! This is quite normal for Dunedin... second, I am completely lactose intolerant. I've always had trouble eating creamy soups and milk, but it has been ten times worse since I arrived (weird?). I am hurled in a ball and laying in bed if I eat cheese, milk, milk chocolate (ah!), and worst of all, mcdonald's soft serve ice cream. well I was just informed of tiny little pills that I can take before I eat dairy to help... ill have to go to the chemist (pharmacy) and get some.
I now have internet at my fingertips.. well kind of. The wireless isnt working on pc's so we have a cable that we share. It is nice to just check my e-mail here, etc... but at the same time, I enjoyed the excitement of going to the library once a day to check it. It was much more thrilling! Oh, the little things. This means I finally have skype: lisam151. talk to me!
So I have two more weeks of class and then mid-semester break! Lynsey and I just planned a sweet trip! I will give you a small preview without ruining that post: 3 days tramping on beaches, 2 days kayaking, full day wine tour on bike!, dolphins, hostels, etc. We are going up to the northern part of the southern island which is full of beaches and warmer weather : )and we are meeting her boyfriend and some of his friends (they are all studying in wellington)... i'm super excited!
Alright, time for some reading- take care : )
I spent the last week catching up in school, going to classes, and planning mid-semester break. I caught myself complaining about having to write a paper and do work, only to stop myself to realize that 1. I am writing the paper in the botanical gardens in 75 degree weather (extremely hot and rare for this time of year)2.I only have four papers due, 1 project, and 4 tests for all my classes for the entire semester 3. its a paper... 4. im in new zealand! Isnt it funny how you easy it is to complain about EVERYTHING?! My kiwi host asked me what I did when I actually took 6 classes at Butler (complain ten times more)... I had to laugh. Whenever you ask a kiwi to imitate an American, they usually complain... mocking us. They will say,"I have a hang over. I feel sick. My head hurts" and then laugh and explain "of course you have a hang over, you drank 20 beers and a bottle of wine. suck it up mate" sad story. haha-
So lets see, I don't have that many updates! This was one of the first weekends I spent just hanging out in Dunedin... I thought it was a good idea, but i missed traveling! On Friday, Jess, Molly and I walked into town to see a movie (slumdog millionare)... amazing! The theater was so cute- it was a packed house with about 25 of us. haha- we had a great time. Yesterday I went shopping in town and got my haircut. They cut hair kind of funky, but I liked it... now only if I could gather the courage to have dreads or a streak of red or blue. haha--jk Today I wrote my paper and took a hike up to Signal Hill, which is a 5 minute walk away, 45 minute hike to a look out over the city. It was a perfect day for it, clear blue skies.
Oh... I have two updates... first, I have a new friend! His name is Stuart. Mom and Deanne had the pleasure of meeting him as well. he lives in my wall (hes a mouse). Every morning he wakes me with some scratches and I talk back with some knocks... I really like having my new friend, but I want to sleep in... so I set my first mouse trap today! jay and jeremiah told me they would take care of it if I caught it. how nice it is to have male roommates! This is quite normal for Dunedin... second, I am completely lactose intolerant. I've always had trouble eating creamy soups and milk, but it has been ten times worse since I arrived (weird?). I am hurled in a ball and laying in bed if I eat cheese, milk, milk chocolate (ah!), and worst of all, mcdonald's soft serve ice cream. well I was just informed of tiny little pills that I can take before I eat dairy to help... ill have to go to the chemist (pharmacy) and get some.
I now have internet at my fingertips.. well kind of. The wireless isnt working on pc's so we have a cable that we share. It is nice to just check my e-mail here, etc... but at the same time, I enjoyed the excitement of going to the library once a day to check it. It was much more thrilling! Oh, the little things. This means I finally have skype: lisam151. talk to me!
So I have two more weeks of class and then mid-semester break! Lynsey and I just planned a sweet trip! I will give you a small preview without ruining that post: 3 days tramping on beaches, 2 days kayaking, full day wine tour on bike!, dolphins, hostels, etc. We are going up to the northern part of the southern island which is full of beaches and warmer weather : )and we are meeting her boyfriend and some of his friends (they are all studying in wellington)... i'm super excited!
Alright, time for some reading- take care : )
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Pictures
Pictures from road trip:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074228&id=21105072&l=a0eae1a909
Pictures from Dunedin/21st Birthday:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074232&id=21105072&l=90e62ff767
Enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074228&id=21105072&l=a0eae1a909
Pictures from Dunedin/21st Birthday:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074232&id=21105072&l=90e62ff767
Enjoy!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Mom and Deanne Visit!
I apologize for not writing in a lonnnng time! Let me start where I left off…
In the first weekend of the month, we had an IFSA event. We went to the Taieri Plains to jetboat, white water raft, and swim. The entire day was a blast! It was a team based competition day, kind of reminded me of survivor. We were running in the bush, swimming down rapids and jumping off cliffs… insane! Then we hurried back and got ready for another
My mom and sister were supposed to arrive on Tuesday, but they were delayed a day in the states, so they arrived on Wednesday morning. I went to the airport to meet them and I was able to walk right up to their gate (much less security than the states). We left right from the airport for our road trip!
We drove to Lake Te Anau up to Milford Sounds and did a 2 hour boat cruise. It was beautiful! We saw epic waterfalls and mountains (you have to check out my pictures). 
On the following day, we drove up to Queenstown. Queenstown is the adventure capital of NZ. You can do anything from jet boating to skiing to bungy jumping to sky diving, etc. etc. etc. It was a cute little touristy town. We went on a 5 hour wine tour to 4 different wineries in 
The following day we woke up to bungy jumping! Deanne and I decided on the bridge jump, which is over a river. It is the first bungy jump in the world! It was crazy- much different than sky diving. The ground was just coming up, I wasn’t sure if I was going to stop---ah! Then we drove up to 
We were headed for a 4.5 hr drive up the west coast to Franz Josef. Well after 6 hours, we realized that mapquest was incorrect and it was actually an 8 hour drive! We also didn’t know that the west coast had very few towns with very few gas stations. When we realized our gas light wasn’t lying, we stopped at a farm and asked for gas. We had about an hour left to our destination, but after a half hour, the sun set and we our friendly little gas light was back! We finally reached a town... but the gas station was closed. We made a decision and found a motel for the night. After getting in our room, I insisted we go to the pub for some drinks. It turned out to be one of our favorite parts of the road trip! We met some crazy locals and had a blast!
The following morning, we drove to our original destination, Franz Josef, and went on a half day glacier climb. It was cool to actually be on a real glacier! 
Then we continued our drive up the west coast. It was a beautiful drive through rain forests and coastal roads. We arrived in Punakaiki, which is famous for its pancake rocks. It was a cute little town in the middle of the rain forest, with no gas station or food store and only one pub! We watched the sunset over the pancake rocks (they actually look like stacks of pancakes). Then, we made a tasty spaghetti dinner and drank the wine that we bought on one of the tours. We had our own cabin for the night, which was adorable!
The following day was my 21st birthday! We traveled across the country to get to Hanmer Springs. The drive was once again, epic, and we walked across a long swing bridge and stopped many times to take pictures. Once we arrived at Hanmer Springs, we indulged in a spa day. We had a half hour private steam room, a half hour massage, and a half hour facial, and then we relaxed in the hot pools. It was quite a treat! We went out for a nice dinner and I enjoyed my first “legal drink” (although I have been legal for 2 months in NZ) haha. It was a fantastic birthday! (thanks for all the birthday wishes from home!!)
The following morning we drove down to 
Since Mom only had a day left in
Deanne and I dropped my Mom off at the airport the next afternoon and then we went to the Gutbuster race up 
The next day we shopped around Queenstown and Deanne was scheduled to go sky diving! We drove out to the place, she got in her jump suit and was about to jump in the plane when they cancelled it because of severe winds. Bummer!
I just dropped Deanne off at the airport and I am in the process of putting my life back in order and catching up in school. It was great to have visitors and see some of my family : )Alright, now that I bored you to death- Take care! Also, pictures will be up in 2 days when I finally get e-mail in my flat (sorry for the slow response to emails and everything, etc.)- we are still waiting on internet-
Thursday, March 5, 2009
First Week of Classes
I just finished my first week of classes!
On Mondays I don't have class, so Lynsey, Daveen, and I decided to take a day hike because it was beautiful outside! We went to Mount Cargill, which is a about an hour walk from campus. We hiked on a little trail for a couple hours to get to the top. It is the highest point in Dunedin, so the views were epic! Along the way, there were waterfalls... it was beautiful! The weather has been gorgeous all week- I finally feel like I am in summer! So we hiked to the top and then went to take a different way down. We were walking on the side of a road for over an hour and we realized that we were far from home... and tired, hungy, and sore. So we started hitchhiking (it is common in new zealand). Finally a lady picked us up as she was headed right past campus to the gym. She told me that she had to stop because the three of us looked desperate. haha. It was quite the adventure!
On Tuesday I went to all my classes- well all four of them starting at 8 a.m. It was quite a rude awakening! I've been out of class since the middle of December. haha. All my classes are huge lectures! My biggest class at Butler was about 35 kids and my biggest class here is 205, my smallest is a little over 100. It is crazy! I went to my last class, sport organisation (yes, nz spells it with an s)... and the professor told me that friday lectures were mandatory. We also had mandatory tutorials and papers due at every one. Needless to say, I dropped the class. I am taking 3 classes, 3-4 classes is average. I wanted to pick up another class, adventure education, but the professor told me that I could come to lectures and participate without signing up, so that I don't have to do the papers or exams. sweet deal. I love all of my classes! I am taking a philosophy course about ethics... the class is lively as everyone likes to voice their opinion and fight. I am taking a sport psychology class, which is by far one of my favorite courses! I love it! very interesting, and the professor completed his doctorate at university of illinois- I am also taking exercise prescription, which will be cool at otago because we have labs and use all this fun equipment!
My professors are laid back and fun- I will have a lot of extra time this semester, but it will be great. I never just take time to relax and enjoy life. its quite nice.
Last night, lynsey and I went to a car auction to buy a car for the semester. Imagine two girls going to a car auction alone... knowing nothing about cars. We made friends with an employee who showed us the cars and explained the process. The place asked us if we wanted to test drive. We said, "well we dont know how to drive on the other side of the road, so if you could drive, well just sit in the back". They laughed at us probably wondering why we were buying a car. haha. We bid on a car, but I think it was too low- the owner never called today. bummer- haha but it was quite the experience!
Other than that, I have just been hanging out and running around. Tomorrow IFSA-Butler is taking us on a day trip to bush walk, jet boat, and swim, and then we are going to a rugby game! Deanne and Mom will be here next week and we have an insane road trip planned- which will be stellar! I'm psyched to see them : )
Check out my new pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2072888&id=21105072&l=57438
On Mondays I don't have class, so Lynsey, Daveen, and I decided to take a day hike because it was beautiful outside! We went to Mount Cargill, which is a about an hour walk from campus. We hiked on a little trail for a couple hours to get to the top. It is the highest point in Dunedin, so the views were epic! Along the way, there were waterfalls... it was beautiful! The weather has been gorgeous all week- I finally feel like I am in summer! So we hiked to the top and then went to take a different way down. We were walking on the side of a road for over an hour and we realized that we were far from home... and tired, hungy, and sore. So we started hitchhiking (it is common in new zealand). Finally a lady picked us up as she was headed right past campus to the gym. She told me that she had to stop because the three of us looked desperate. haha. It was quite the adventure!
On Tuesday I went to all my classes- well all four of them starting at 8 a.m. It was quite a rude awakening! I've been out of class since the middle of December. haha. All my classes are huge lectures! My biggest class at Butler was about 35 kids and my biggest class here is 205, my smallest is a little over 100. It is crazy! I went to my last class, sport organisation (yes, nz spells it with an s)... and the professor told me that friday lectures were mandatory. We also had mandatory tutorials and papers due at every one. Needless to say, I dropped the class. I am taking 3 classes, 3-4 classes is average. I wanted to pick up another class, adventure education, but the professor told me that I could come to lectures and participate without signing up, so that I don't have to do the papers or exams. sweet deal. I love all of my classes! I am taking a philosophy course about ethics... the class is lively as everyone likes to voice their opinion and fight. I am taking a sport psychology class, which is by far one of my favorite courses! I love it! very interesting, and the professor completed his doctorate at university of illinois- I am also taking exercise prescription, which will be cool at otago because we have labs and use all this fun equipment!
My professors are laid back and fun- I will have a lot of extra time this semester, but it will be great. I never just take time to relax and enjoy life. its quite nice.
Last night, lynsey and I went to a car auction to buy a car for the semester. Imagine two girls going to a car auction alone... knowing nothing about cars. We made friends with an employee who showed us the cars and explained the process. The place asked us if we wanted to test drive. We said, "well we dont know how to drive on the other side of the road, so if you could drive, well just sit in the back". They laughed at us probably wondering why we were buying a car. haha. We bid on a car, but I think it was too low- the owner never called today. bummer- haha but it was quite the experience!
Other than that, I have just been hanging out and running around. Tomorrow IFSA-Butler is taking us on a day trip to bush walk, jet boat, and swim, and then we are going to a rugby game! Deanne and Mom will be here next week and we have an insane road trip planned- which will be stellar! I'm psyched to see them : )
Check out my new pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2072888&id=21105072&l=57438
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