Random Days, Exams, and Farewells

Lastly we had exams. I had 4 of them, so like most exam days, they were chock full of studying and procrastinating. Overall they went pretty well though. There were a few highlights in the last few weeks despite lots of studying.
First the All-Blacks (NZ’s National Rugby Team) who played France in Dunedin. A whole bunch of my flat went together but eventually got separated. I met up with a whole bunch of other buddies. The game was quite fun…I had my face painted and a NZ flag served as a cape. A few days later we had an Arcadia Program farewell dinner at an amazingly delicious restaurant. It was cool to have everyone back together in the same room sharing a great dinner.
Speaking of great dinners, the Frisbee team had a similar farewell dinner at Filadelphios, a great gourmet pizza place. Aftewards we hopped over to the sports center and played two hours of disc slightly tipsy and fuller than I cared to be. It was fun as always yet the wrap up hugs and hand shakes was a little sad. The next few days was filled with last nights with people and sad moments at the airport. Right now I’m one of the last international kids here in Dunedin, all alone in my flat. Both Dan and Shan are gone for good, while Emma is over in London visiting family.
Other random notes I just remembered. I went to Sandfly Bay one day to scope out the wildlife. Out on the beach are seals just lounging about and eventually, after
much patience and good timing, a few penguins emerge from the sea to hop up the side of the hill. Was quite cool to see, especially since the Blue Eyed Penguins I saw are the rarest kind. Right now I’m just waiting to go to dinner with a two friends and trying to figure out my weekend. Research starts Monday.
Reflecting on the whole trip now that everyone else is gone is bitter sweet. It makes me nostalgic for those who have left, but also elated recalling all the times in NZ. It has been the best few months of my life.

PS If you want to see all my other photos, check out my facebook which I recently uploaded almost all my photos.

Samoa!

The much anticipated tropical island vacation. So we slept outside of CC on Monday night at my neighbor Jono’s house. They made dinner for us and everything. Such sweeties. They drove us to the airport the next morning where we caught our flight up to Auckland then to Samoa. The plane ride was pretty uneventful, but pretty quick because of friends + movies. We had a brief layover in Tonga where we got our first encounter with a humid climate. Amazing.
We landed in Samoa around 10 where we quickly got through customs and found our bus driver waiting for us. His name was Micah and had a crazy laugh. Fun guy that’d we be chilling with for the next week. It was a 2 hour drive from Apia, the capital, to Taufua Beach where we would be staying in Fales (open air huts). It was pretty hot, but started to rain, cooling everything down. Finally we arrived at our beach pretty late but they had dinner prepared for us. So good. We all ate then found our ways to our beds.
The next morning was pretty early because breakfast was at 8-9. The food they served was delicious and plentiful. Our lodgings included both breakfast and dinner. We usually just bought from them lunch…and drinks.
Overall, there isn’t too much to say about Samoa except that it was the relaxing, beach vacation you’d always dreamed of having. The beach was beautiful, the water clear and warm. The fish would swim around by your legs if you stood still. Also there were snorkeling equipment to rent out which we all partook in and took turns exploring the reefs off shore. There were tropical, colorful fish everywhere. We spent most of the days lounging about on the beach, reading or playing in the water. One day we built an awesome sand-castle dedicated to Paige, may she be praised. Eventually the temple to Paige was inundated by the ocean after a valiant stand against the waves. 4-6 brought on happy hour which was a time for us to come together and sip on fruity beverages. Dinner was served shortly after. On two of the nights there were native dances performed which were nice, but the coolest was the firedancers. They would twirl around a long stick with each end on fire and do all sorts of insane tricks.
The one day that was out of the normal for us was when Micah took us on a tour of the island where we learned about some of the native plants, drank out of coconuts, saw waterfalls, swam in a cave, swam in a pool, went to a market, and played on the sliding rocks. The sliding rocks was the most fun part. They are named appropriately as they are just natural rock formations that form a waterslide. The only downside to the whole trip was some scattered showers (which actually kept it a pleasant temperature) and the fact that the water isn’t drinkable. Thus iodine tablets were necessary. It just made things a little tougher, although who could complain, we were in Samoa.
The trip home was tragic. We had to leave an island paradise to return to our cold flats and exams. The trip home was pretty uneventful.

Mt. Cook and Glaciers

Leading up to this trip was insane. It was the end of crunch time for work, so I had a few final assignments to hand in plus I was leaving for Samoa on the subsequent Tuesday. We had off Monday for the Queen’s Birthday, and I and 8 others (Hillary, Andee, Sara, Michael, Louis, Paige, Nina, and Kris) were off to Samoa on Tuesday for the next week. It was a crazy departure, again late at night because I had to have a Samoa meeting plus pack my bags for the next 10 days. It got done and eventually we made it to Wanaka that night.
The next morning we spent checking out some of Wanaka and then pushing off towards Fox and Franz-Joseph Glaciers. It was a decently long drive into Fox, but the company was top notch. We even formed a band, Five-Ply. Then we stopped in and looked at Fox glacier which was pretty cool. The night we crashed in Franz-Joseph where the next morning we would hike up the glacier. We made dinner and I taught them Bang, which became a nice pass-time for the rest of the trip.
The next day was a little panicked as we couldn’t find Schwartz’ hiking boots or the keys to Estelle. Turns out I had the keys in my bag somewhere, stupid me. Anyways, half the group, Jase, LittleFoot, and Mike were doing the shorter hike, while Gwen and I tackled the full day excursion. The glacier was really awesome. You hike about 45 minutes up through the glacial valley where it used to be but has been receding for the past few centuries.
Once we arrive close to it, we had to swing around the side of it because of falling ice and rock hazards. The glacier sounds alive because it was creaking and dropping small stones and rocks down its side. We took a break before actually mounting the ice-giant to put on crampon and get instructions. The guides have to cut out ice stairs for you to climb so we waited while they did that and set ropes. Glaciers are constantly changing, so new formations appear quite often and old trails disappear. Every two weeks or so the guides find that the glacier is completely different and must cut out different paths. The whole experience was super cool, pun intended, but some of the highlights were climbing up the ice walls, the amazing blue color of the ice/water, a pool that was about 30 meters deep, and the cool ice caves you could climb through. Suffice it to say it was a unique and spectacular time.
Following the glacial walk, we hopped back in the car and to Wanaka where we spent the night. The next day we drove into Mt. Cook National Park and crashed there for the night. We had a good band practice with some Bang. The next morning we did the Hooker trail which lead us to a sweet lake with icebergs floating in it and another trail that lead to a cool view of the tallest mountain in NZ, Mt. Cook. It was a glorious day except that it was too cold for Estelle. Her battery isn’t her strong point, so we tried to push start her after searching for someone with jumpers. Finally, we conceded to calling the nearby Hermitage where they sent someone to jump us for $20.
Finally we headed back to Christchurch to drop me off in order to meet up with the rest of the Samoa crew. It was not Estelle’s day as she had some overheating problems on the way back, forcing us to pull over several times. Eventually we got her cooled down and made it into Christchurch where they left me. I found my way to where the other’s would be dropped off and ran into Louis. The rest of the tale belongs under the adventure of Samoa.

Milford and Kamuda!

So these two weekends saw the bolstering of our ranks by the noble Jeff Kamuda. It was so nice to finally see another face from back in the States and catch up with him. Good times.
Secondly, the weekend brought on the much anticipated Milford Trek trip, involving myself, Spencer, and Marissa. This was doomed from the start. With it being late in the season, snow fall and poor conditions were a realistic possibility. So as the date got closer and conversations between the DOC (Department of Conservation) took place, we found out that there was snow and avalanche warnings. We decided that since none of us had Alpine training, that it’d be better to err on the side of caution. Instead we planned on doing a kayaking trip through the sound.
We left pretty late for Te Anau hoping to get there around 11-12, but fate had another plan. With Marissa sound asleep in the back of the car, Spencer and I were chatting away about anything and everything. In fact, so deep in conversation that we missed our turn to Te Anau and ended up in Queenstown, about 1.5 hours still out of our destination and growing later. After laughing and cursing, we hit the road again, finally arriving in the ever elusive Te Anau. Apparently it is possible to get lost in NZ.
The next day we hopped in the car and headed into the Sound, about a 2 hour drive from the town. We stopped a few times to check out some trails and such. Mirror Lakes was a neat little spot where the still lake reflects the majestic mountains in the background. We also did a short few hour hike into a pretty alpine lake. On the hike in we heard 2-3 avalanches in the surrounding mountains, confirming our fears for the Milford trek itself. After spending some time around the lake, the hour was growing later, so we decided to head back, but again got caught up in conversation and Spencer led us astray. Fortunately, my superb tracking skills found our trail again and brought us safely to the car.
The rest of the drive was scenic, highlighted by the sweet tunnel that leads into the valley where Milford Sound lays. It was a weird tunnel because it wasn’t paved over with concrete on the inside, making it look half finished. The best part was the end where we emerge high up in the valley, looking down at a gorgeous view during sunset. So sweet. Our hostel was right smack dab in the middle of the mountains, which was awesome. We dropped our bags, made dinner, and played a game of scrabble (which I of course won). Marissa cheated, telling us that “quo” was a word while Spencer dazzled us with his vocabulary word, veld.
The next morning we got up early, had breakfast, and waited for the kayaking people. When they arrived they said that it was pretty windy out, thus might be too dangerous to go out on the Sound. And of course, it was. We got our money back, so instead booked a 2 hour cruise through the sound. It was a gorgeous and fun boat ride through Milford Sound which apparently is in the running for one of the new natural wonders of the world, so needlessly to say, its awesome. Despite some hiccups in the trip plans and executions, it was still a fantastic weekend.

Beach Ultimate Tournament-Sleepover Extravaganza!

So we were planning on doing a wicked night on the beach with a BBQ, sleepover, and a “surprise” (which we found out later was a hot-tub) and then an Ultimate tourney the next day, but alas the Dunedin weather prevailed, as it was rainy and cold. Not ones to be discouraged, the Hammer and Bass crew kept the dream alive, heading over to the Godfather’s, Tom Bond’s, house. We brought food for a BBQ and drinks for a fun night. Man o man was it fun. We had a delicious dinner and a better evening filled with games and the like. This solidified the love-affair that the Frisbee team all shared. There were far too many funny moments and stories to recount, but the hot tub picture sums up the night.

Its been such a long time

Oh man, it’s been a while since the last update, I’ve just been pretty busy with a lack of motivation to spend some hours blogging. But alas, the fateful day has come and gone where my fellow international students boarded the homeward bound plane. Things are quieter.
Regardless, its time to play catch up, so I’ll start from where I left off and progress through the weeks Tarantino style…so here we go.

First weekend after break…This is where work started to pick up. I had a rapid series of papers and work to accomplish. I guess I was going to school and that was the first time I was actually forced to spend some time in the library to write papers. That was lame as. I’m actually forgetting exactly what happened in the past few weeks chronologically, so I’ll just post stuff that I remember doing.

I had an excellent overnight trip to Christchurch with Gwen, Naomi, and Erica. We arrived in CC pretty late at night, tired and ready for bed so we just crashed. The next morning we went to a nice café and outdoor arts and crafts market. Saw a sweet statue of “The Fool” with neat quotes engraved around it. One of my favorites was “As the circle of light increases, so does the circumference of darkness around it." ~Einstein. What a poignant thought. Anyways, we spent the rest of the morning driving out on the Peninsula taking in the sights. Was a nice couple hour drive with pretty mountains and such.
Then we made the decision to check out Castle Hill, a cool geological formation. Now that may not sound very exciting but it was quite the contrary. Although I’m getting ahead of myself. Castle Hill is about an hour into Arthur’s Pass, the one I took to get to Wild Foods. What a drastic change snow makes on the scenery. All the mountains were white capped and gorgeous. The drive in was better than I
remembered. We got very luck and saw an amazing rainbow at the edge of cliff crossing a valley. Wow. Then once we arrived at Castle Hill, it was about a 5 minute walk up to the rocks. They were huge. Some of them were about 100 feet tall and probably 50 feet diameter. The place made you feel like you were in a fantasy book. And indeed, this was where they shot the last seen from the first Narnia movie. What a magical place, well worth the trip.