Its been sometime since I've last updated, not for the lack of adventures more likely the opposite. Lets see, I have about a month of memories to shoot into the blogosphere. So lets just take it one weekend at a time and hopefully I won't forget anything important, although its bound to happen.
First weekend after the Wild Food fest I spent back in Dunedin just living and loving. The highlight of the weekend was twofold. First was a flat-warming thrown by my friend Mike which was super fun and I learned how to play beer die. Good times. The night of partying was perfectly capped with a metal show that I hadn't heard about but go to see Ashes of Eden tear it up. Good times. Second big event was the Highlander's, Dunedin's rugby team, game. Twas a good time, we won although apparently both teams on the pitch were abysmal. I got a picture with the mascotthe Highlander who was fantastic. I got to hold his sword (not sexual). It was a pretty relaxed weekend all in all. I also did a hike by myself up the "Pineapple Trek" outside of Dunedin which was amazing as always.
Next weekend was a big one...NZ Nationals (for Ultimate). Our Dunedin team brought out 10-12 brave souls for a long drive up to Wellington. Our team is Hammer and Bass and we got sweet shirts. Now let me quick show my love for these guys. This Ultimate team is a dream team both on and off the field. They're so much fun to hang out and to play with. Man am I blessed to have found these kids. The actual games at Nationals were just so-so due to extremely blustery conditions. The wind was howling that day (and the next). Despite our stellar team we don't have
amazing handlers, so wind was a problem. Even though we didn't win a game in the tourney we won what really counted...spirit. There are too many memories and a lot of inside jokes that arose from the weekend to recount, but we all got nicknames. Mine's Swampy. Don't ask.Spring/Fall/Easter Break! We've been planning on doing the North Island for a while so we finally got together and formed a trip. The players were... Myself, Hillary, Kris, Mike, and Spencer. In order to get our butts up and around the warmer half of NZ we needed a ride. Enter Estelle De La Feuge. She's our car. $1000 split 4 ways for an '89 Toyota Corona. She's a beauty.
Now armed with a ride we hit the road on Thursday before Good Friday. We drove up to Christchurch and crashed with a fellow ArcadiaNZ. Free rooms are nice. We hit the road early and got into Pichton to take a ferry to Wellington, the capital. We spent the night in Wellington and tried to celebrate Hillary's 21. Little known fact is that NZ, a normally secular country, shuts down completely for Good Friday through Easter. A quiet night on the town brought us to the San Francisco Bathhouse for a comedy show. Twas strange and not very good but still fun.
The next day brought us to the Tongariro (sp) Crossing, one of NZ's Great Walks. The best part about this hike is that it is up a volcanoe which happened to be the one and only Mt. Doom. Man o man was I excited. Armed with a ring, I hiked up and threw the ring into a crater, saving Middle Earth. Check it off the to do list. The rest of the hike was gorgeous and well worth the small drive. Once we got back to our backpackers we cooked up some food and wanted to watch a movie. This is where I stumbled across one of the best surprises in recent memory. I was looking for boardgames and scoped out a wardrobe that might contain games. Upon opening the door Aslan's face greeted me. I finally found it, Narnia. I was so excited I ran in and found a room filled with beanbag chairs and a movie project plus screen. It made my trip. We watched Point Break, a shitty albeit hilarious surfer/FBI movie with Keano and (it gets better) Gary Busey. So happy.
The following day we traveled up to Lake Taupo, the biggest lake in NZ for some fun. We went on a small hike that brought us to a waterfall which was a brilliant blue color. Blue as. Upon returning we found some hot springs that fed into the river in which you can bathe in. Just a natural hot tub on the side of the path. NZ is awesome. We enjoyed a soak then headed back to our hostel where we met up with Lisa Feurerstien, a fellow Hamiltonian abroad in NZ.
The next day brought Spencer and I into a plan 12000 ft above the ground. Skydiving was amazing. You should definitely try it if you get a chance. It was a tandem jump and I was paired up with Freddy, a hardened German dude. He's a guiness record holder and has done over 17000 tandem jumps. I was in good hands. Once again on the ground, we headed up to the Bay of Plenty to relax and spend some time on the beach. Fortunately Kris made a Kiwi friend back in Dunedin whose Mom graciously let us stay with her. Free housing.
The beaches were very nice and the water not too cold. Mike and I built some sweet sand castles that had their own river systems. I love the beach. Our last night there we gathered drift wood and built a bonfire under the stars. We had a few drinks (some of us had more) and had a great time. We all passed out and left the next morning. That was when we got a text from our gracious Kiwi host asking if any of us had peed in a laundry basket. None of us remember such a lude act, so the mystery still remains although we're trying to gather evidence. Fortunately our host thought it was quite funny. No damage done, except for the basket.
Finally we ended up in Waitoma where there are caves to explore. We stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast on top of a hill, which Estelle had trouble with. The caves are awesome but I couldn't bring a camera. There are glow worms on the ceiling that illuminate the top creating a nice atmosphere. We tubed through the caves on a guided tour, although it was overpriced we all had a good time still. Finally we drove basically 20 hours straight down back to Dunedin to arrive on Sunday. Good times, good trip.
Flyers are down 2-1 in the series right now and tomorrow is the next game. Wish them luck! Peace!
