Invercargill

Our bus left Queenstown fairly early the next morning and we were up and excited to be moving on. We had a WWOOFing host lined up in Invercargill and were optimistic even though we had been warned Invercargill was a bit of a dud. Well, we thought, almost anyplace is going to be a bit boring compared to Queenstown! But, as we were about to get on the bus I checked my email and to my dismay found an email from our WWOOFing host that the wife was feeling unwell so they might not be able to host us. Having already paid for the bus and loaded our luggage, we went ahead and headed to Invercargill hoping for the best. Sadly though, the screwing of the scrum by our host was only a prelude to the myriad of disappointments that characterized Invercargill.

We arrived in Invercargill and confirmed our host-less-ness at the iSite (the NZ tourism center located in most towns of a size). We headed towards the Kackling Kea Backpackers per recommendation and a desire to get away from large backpackers such as Nomads in QT had been. After hauling our luggage for a solid mile and discovering one of my wheels on my main suitcase was trying valiantly to surrender, I was inclined to be in a sour mood. The weather wasn’t helping either with 80kph wind gusts, grey skies, and the occasional drizzle nor the fact that we discovered our backpackers to be in an ‘insalubrious area’ (how the guidebook described it and I must concur). However, Jessie cleverly volunteered to the woman checking us in that we would be glad to exchange work for accommodation... which is how we found ourselves trying to wrestle a garden that had been wild for several years back into resembling disciplined and sleeping in the garage (rhymes with carriage!) room. We weeded, cut deadheads, gave grass plants a haircut, turned 1 bush into 2 bushes several times, turned several bushes into the trees they should have been, and pulled out more weeds then there were real plants remaining. Seeing our effort make such a difference was actually extremely rewarding and turned out to be one of my two favorite things about Invercargill. Aside from gardening that first day, we went grocery shopping and I discovered the magic of Hokey Pokey candy. I’m even sure how to describe its deliciousness…it’s a confection of golden syrup and chocolate coating and rivaled Tim Tams in addicatability. For this shopping trip I donned my thermal long sleeved shirt, red fuzzy jacket, rain jacket/wind breaker, gloves, scarf, and beanie and was still uncomfortable with the wind and temperature.

The next day we attempted to amuse ourselves by following the Invercargill Heritage Trail. What a bust…if my town’s heritage was so insipid I wouldn’t try to pony it up to anyone, much less tourists. There were 2 pretty churches though to be fair. We distracted ourselves by indulging in the $9.99/kilo Confectionary at CountDown grocery store (MORE hokey pokey!), and meandered towards the iSite center in the guise of checking out the ‘historic’ water tower. The iSite center turned out to be a pleasant surprise with an art gallery, natural history museum and Tuataras tucked away. I spent a good portion of my afternoon being swept off my feet by the romance of Henry and Mildred the Tuatara’s. Henry was a mean ole bastard until they noticed that he had anal cancer and removed the tumor and BAM! He apologized to Mildred for biting off the tip of her tail by impregnating her so Henry became a Daddy for the very first time at the ripe old age of 111 (Mildred was 81). I watched the 15 minute movie on this about 3 times I was so enthralled…it was possibly the most entertaining thing in Invercargill. A close runner up was the paraphernalia all throughout the city about how part of “The World’s Fastest Indian” was filmed nearby….including the world famous “Bizarre Bar” courtesy of some crazy American in Montana of course.

Man…that’s about it for Invercargill. It’s truly the one place I visited in New Zealand that I have no desire to return to and would never live there. We caught a ride from a fellow American to Dunedin the next day after FINALLY getting a WWOOFing place lined up. Because it is edging into Fall/winter, most farms are slimming down on the extra help.

Queenstown: Adrenalin Capital of the World!

Queenstown is the self-styled adrenalin capital of the world…and for good reason. It is here you can bungee jump 180 meters, skydive, luge, white-water raft, and the list goes on and on. Queenstown lived up to its title before we had even landed. You approach the airport flying between the peaks of the Remarkable Mountain Range and the crosswinds were fierce on the day we were landing. We had to circle the airport a few times and it was startling to be flying lower than many of the peaks and to be so close. Startling and beautiful. We were jostled around a bit but I only started to get worried when we touched down at what felt like full speed. I was glad to have landed because if our landing attempt had failed they were so low on fuel that they were going to fly us to Invercargil rather than try landing again!

We caught the bus to Queenstown and checked into Nomads, our hostel. We’re staying in a 10-person room and several 18yo English girls had their stuff exploded ALL over the room. There I was sitting two days shy of twenty looking at these girls basically my age and being baffled by their attitudes and practices. I felt OLD. It was getting on dark about now so we headed out to eat and explore. Having not explored Queenstown on my previous 2 hour stay, I was surprised at how small it was. I reckon that it is a small version of Aspen. I made a beeline for Fergburger, only the best burger joint ever. I had the ‘little lambie’ burger in honor of Charity and it was just as delicious as anticipated. We managed to waddle through the streets in our stuffed state and check out the entirety of the city…about 3 blocks by 3 blocks. I found some souvenirs I had planned to get (2 schweet shot glasses and a possum tail) for cheap and barely resisted purchasing some silk “All-Blacks” boxers. I did not resist the crème Brielle fudge at the Remarkable sweet shop….but really, who could? Then it was picnic time with my fudge and an ebook until I dozed off to sleep.

The next day, on our way to our first intentional adrenalin seeking, we ran into McKenna and Emma from FruitVans (our previous WWOOFing place)!
We chatted for a while, introduced Emma to fudge, drank a Dandelion and Burdock soda, and made plans to meet up with them in the evening. We took the gondola up Bob’s Mountain and marveled at the view. Took an appropriate amount of pictures as well. Then…it was time to LUGE!!!

Lugeing involves traveling down a concrete track at overly high speeds while seated in a flimsy plastic vehicle of sorts. It’s hard to explain but hopefully the pictures help.
I really enjoyed it, especially the parts where I almost wiped out but didn’t quite or when I would whizz by kids and hear their exclamations of envy at my extreme skills. I smelled my brakes a few times when I went into a turn a bit too fast but oh well. We caught the gondola down and went and batched together a lunch at the hostel. Then we went back to Bob’s Mountain and hiked up. We believed to be starting the hike at about 4:15pm because of a faulty vending machine clock and just plain silliness but it was actually more like 5:45. As soon as we started the hike, the clouds and fog rolled in quickly followed by dusk. I was very grateful New Zealand is devoid of large predators because that pine forest was looming very dark and scary with visibility probably 3 meters into the trail. We got a bit turned around at one point and because of this we didn’t reach the top until 7:30 pm…pretty much full dark. Unfortunately, we were suppose to have met up with Emma and McKenna at 6 for dinner…so we were a bit late but still had a delicious homemade veggie-rice meal. We called it an early night because we needed to be up early for Milford Sound!

We boarded the Kiwi Experience Bus (sorry Zita!) at 8 am and headed for Milford Sound. After driving through the Remarkables and entering flat sheepy country I took a quick nap and awoke just outside Te Anau. On our quick stop there, the temperature finally convinced me that it was finally time to invest in some gloves/hat and so I purchased some merino wool/possum fur gloves and a NZ beanie. I was so thankful Jessie and I had decided to move our trip from Thursday to Friday because our bus driver told us the weather the day before was possibly the worst he had ever seen and that it snowed on them at the end! From Te Anau we could see that Fiordland had received quite the dusting of snow!
As we entered into Fiordland I was so pleased at how the weather was holding up…not a shabby birthday present. When I previously visited Milford Sound it was a foggy and somewhat dreary day, but this time the sunlight was intense with only a smattering of clouds. There weren’t as many waterfalls of the cliff faces but I could actually see the mountain tops and more details of their formations. My previous impressions of Milford sound were reinforced in its splendor (visit blog data xxxxx for verbal description). It is apparently a common Kiwi wisdom that to truly appreciate Milford sound you must visit it once when it is sunny and once when it is raining. Check and check. Below are some comparison pictures.
Upon returning to Queenstown, it was time to celebrate my birthday in true backpacker style. I took advantage of a pub crawl that included a visit to an ice bar (which was cool though I doubt I’ll ever bother going to one again) and took full advantage of free birthday drinks (including several ‘ginga ninja’ cocktails which are so so SO deliciously gingery). Even when intoxicated I cannot get away from my usual dorky, academic, and ‘prudent’ self, so I ended up chatting the night away with a recent pre-med graduate from Cornell who is just as indecisive about medical school as me. Such conversations and new viewpoints are starting to foster a slightly different mindset that hopefully can withstand returning to the States.
I woke up the next morning and was informed by Jessie that the reason I wasn’t feeling hungover was that I was still intoxicated from the night before. I didn’t argue. However, I did proceed to go hiking for the next several hours (still in my pearl earrings from the night before…what a sight) so I was functional if a little too happy about hiking. After our hike up the Queenstown Hill we made our way into Arrowtown to catch the Fall Festival closing down. We made the best of it and toured the historical Chinese Gold-Miner Settlement. We also managed to gather apples and walnuts from some trees.
The next day was spent reading part of “The Time Travelers Wife” and working on my research paper for biology. I hit up the free BBQ at the World Bar and meet a fellow Atlanta-ian there! After commiserating about what we missed about the South (mostly food items) we hit up a micro-brewery after discovering they had a real (alcoholic) ginger beer. It was love at first sip but too intense for anything but a social drink. Still. It was liquid love. I also learned about a terrible incident concerning Alabama, the British car show “Top Gear”, and ‘man-love’, that made me feel so ashamed for the south. Google it, I’m sure it will come up. The rest of the night was pretty flat (it was Sunday) and the music was terrible for dancing at the World Bar so I turned in early on my last night in Queenstown. But I forget the most important instance of the night! The Climbing and Riding of the Moa. Yes, Steven! I climbed and rode the moa. Hopefully I’ll have pictures soon of this epic event. It was a fitting end to Queenstown.

First day back in New Zealand!

So I’ve just completed my first day of WWOOFing in New Zealand and any shadow of a doubt I had about choosing not to come home has been dispelled. My only regrets are that it is edging into winter here and I only have a month! Just seeing a few snatches of the landscape as we flew into Auckland made me realize just how much I had missed NZ and how right it felt to be back.

Jessie and I got off the plane yesterday afternoon and said goodbye to our various study abroad counterparts. There were some tears and a few twinges of homsickness knowing I could have easily been back in the States in just 13 hours. Instead Jessie and I caught a bus towards Auckland and then caught a train (we caught the wrong train at first!) to Sunnyvale ( a suburb of Auckland). Gabby and Ama picked us up from the train station with just enough of a delay for us to realize just how quickly New Zealand moves from Summer to Winter and the chill of the night to set in and make us regret the warm shirts packed in our bags. While we were catching the train out to Sunnyvale no less than 4 people asked us if we needed directions, Kiwi’s really are the nicest! The house was a pleasant surprise; tastefully decorated, a playful kitten, and a cozy pull-out couch bed with plenty of blankets. We called it a night and tried to sleep as the kitten and fat cat play-fought on our bed and tried to sleep on us.

We woke up the next morning and had a delicious breakfast including kiwi-fruit jam and kiwi juice. Considering that this first WWOOFing experience is selling fruit out of vans, all the produce makes sense and is delicious! Oh! The night before we had a bite of avocado cake….it was very green and tasted….interestingly. Then Jessie and I got to work. We weren’t selling fruit today but instead were tasked with making the road-side signs to advertise for kiwis. We spent 6 hours making six kick-*ss signs that were the envy of the evening. I designed/outlined the letters (R, S, U, W were my least favorite) and painted kiwi-halves and Jessie put on base coats and painted the lettering. I’ll post some before and after pictures. The weather was absolutely beautiful; it felt like a marvelous crisp yet warm fall day! Had a delicious vegetarian lunch and dinner and then spent the evening being taught some card drinking games by fellow French and German WWOOFers.

This morning, Jessie and I are planning to catch a train into Auckland and go sightseeing for our day off. We cook dinner tonight and go fruit selling tomorrow. Exciting!

Continuation....

The next day was training day; Jessie and I were sent out to our selling spots with an experienced seller and they showed us the ropes such as how many of each fruit/vege in a bag and how much per bag. The worst part was trying to remember how to get to Cox Bay which was my spot to sell. I took really good notes on landmarks and such because if I had to depend on my map-reading skills I would never make it. This first day was Sunday and it was quite busy actually; Kiwi’s LOVE avocados and are obsessed with this South American fruit called a feijoa. Once we sold out of those two items are day got a lot slower. This first day Cristo and I made somewhere around $250. The next two days were a lot slower because there was a shortage of avocados and feijoas….and less business meant more time for me to read/listen to music/contemplate life. Also, I finally got to drive on the left! It was cool. Way cool.

This WWOOFing has been an international experience because the WWOOFers are from Germany, France (Basque as some like to say), California, Washington D.C, Argentina, and England. Its huge fun sitting around the dining area and listening to all the conversations flying across the room in different languages and pantomiming words that the others don’t know in English yet. I feel the need to pick up a language for serious now.

After fruit sorting (and taste-testing some golden kiwis) Jessie and I headed to the airport for our flight to the South Island to visit Queenstown! Our plan was to only stay 3 nights….but this didn’t quite turn out this way.

Brisbane

I'll come back and update this hopefully.....

Musical Sydney

On Wednesday night, the folk/bluegrass/old-timey band Uncle Earl was in Sydney! They are an American band I really like but they've never played a show down South. Its crazy that I've never been able to see them in the States but here they are in Sydney for an Australian tour.

I went to the show, which was really enjoyable. There had been some personnel changes so it was the first time the group had all played together. I really enjoyed watching their interactions on stage, I'm pretty sure I caught most of their (few) tiny arrangement/chord mistakes as they figured each other out.

The real value of this show is that I finally connected with the Sydney bluegrass scene! I guess when you're the only 'young-en' at these shows people presume you're into it. Therefore, I found myself cordially invited to a Saturday evening bluegrass jam with promises of a fiddle I could play. Yay!!!

Spent Thursday afternoon at the beach and ate at Mocean again. Ordered calamari under the impressin it would be cute little rings of squid....but instead got tentacles. Not an experience I needed or enjoyed....or intend to ever repeat. Thankfully I was able to cover up several gagging episodes with my still-lingering cough.

Friday was the completion of our scuba PADI certification. We took a test on our e-learning (I got a 100%) and then headed to the ocean. There we were tested on our skills and also went on 3 dives. We saw some really cool marine life (I'll describe it later when I have my logbook with me and all the right names). Now that I'm a certified diver, I'm going on a weekend trip to the Great Barrier Reef! The trip is 3 days/ 2 nights on a boat with 11 dives, including 2 night dives! Its a bit pricey but who knows when I'll be back at the Great Barrier Reef! I'm so excited!

Saturday during the day, Jay and I went to the Tarongo Zoo. Jay knew somebody at the zoo so we got in free which was really nice. We saw some really cute marsupials and had a photo shoot with a koala that was even awake! Did you know koalas sleep 20 hours a day becasue eucalyptus is such a low energy food? We also watched the seal show which was adorable and just had a great day overall.

Saturday night was bluegrass night! Lindsay picked me up at 7 and had a fiddle for me so off we went. The fiddle had a pretty flat bridge but it hardly fazed me and I was thrilled with how well my muscle memory held up. As long as I could start the song (which isn't as easy as it sounds) everything was pretty solid with even some new improvs to save my butt if my fingers faltered. I played a quick 10 minute set for the gathering with Lindsay on guitar, Jenny on banjo, and Val and bass. We played Blackberry Blossom, Lover's Waltz, Gold Rush, and then Wheel Hoss which were all very well recepted. Then we jammed the night away until 2am and it was such a blast. From this night I ended up doing a studio session on Tuesday for a local country/old-time artist which was not only fun and more experience but also a nice windfall of spending money. I literally had to set up the provided fiddle...bridge, strings and all which was quite funny to me.

I caught up on sleep and schoolwork on Sunday but also went to the Rocks Market with some friends. I resisted all temptations until I ran across a beautiful silver ring of two intertwining branches that I simply could not walk away from. Believe me, I tried. I was so thrilled when it was only $20. Funnily enough, all three of my friends with me ended up buying pieces at the same stall...even Steven.

Monday we went on a field trip to the Manly Quarantine Station which was right up my ally being about public health, communicable diseases, and all that fun stuff. There were some crazy ideas of what was good for you back then (medicinal arsenic, garlic foot pastes, wearing onions) but overall the Qstation was effective. The weather was beautiful so after our tour we headed to Manly Beach (another famous AUS beach) before catching the ferry back. Shout out to Charity for making delicious lunch sandwiches of turkey, avocado and tomato. Nom nom nom.



I had class until 1pm on Tuesday but after that I caught the 2pm ferry back to Manly Beach. This time though I wasn’t going to enjoy the beach but to record some tracks as mentioned above. I ended up laying down 12 tracks over 3 hours of some really enjoyable old-timey country music. I wish I would have had my fiddle with me, the fiddle I played on didn’t have nearly the sound quality as mine but oh well. It was still a bunch of fun and actually pretty relaxing. After getting back to the Travelodge, Charity and I went and checked out the Sydney Aquarium. Because it was nighttime, we got to see the platypus (A nocturnal animal) being really active and playful, not to mention he must have been itchy because he was really intent on rubbing his back on all of the different branches in the water. I was surprised at how small a platypus is; I expected them to be about the size of the river otters in the Chattanooga Aquarium but he was perhaps ½ of the size. I read that male platypuses rarely weigh more then 2kg, or 4.5 lbs. There were some magnificent sea dragons, jellyfish, and coral displays at the aquarium as well as the dugongs which are basically ocean manatees. We saw the dugongs being fed their dinner of ice-berg lettuce and they were terribly inefficient eaters. I’d say more of the lettuce ended up floating at the top of the pool then they ate! After the aquarium, Charity and I met up with 6 other students and watched the movie Avatar at the Sydney Imax. The reason we watched it was that the Sydney Imax is the biggest Imax screen in the world and it was the very last showing of Avatar in 3D. It was definitely worth seeing it again on such an amazing screen!

Wednesday afternoon, I went to the Sydney botanical gardens and gawked at all the fruit bats in the trees. I felt like I was in Transylvania or someplace that should have loads of vampires and other creepies, not in the middle of metropolitan Sydney! I spent Wednesday evening at Jennie’s apartment. Jennie is an Australian banjo player who lived/toured in the States (including Georgia!) for a few years as well as worked as a nurse. We met at the bluegrass gathering on Saturday and really hit it off. She also had a daughter who is training to be a classical violinist that is my age whose name was Georgia so Jennie thought we had to meet….which is how I found myself invited me to dinner! It was really neat getting to talk to someone who knew both Australian and American culture so well; Jennie set me straight on a few misconceptions I had about Australia and especially Australian foods. For example, vegemite (a salty, yeast based spread) is only to be eaten on white toast that is smothered in butter with only the thinnest layer of vegemite. It was interesting to talk to Georgia who is only 3 weeks into her first year of Uni (pronounced Unee - what they call college here) about what school is like here and such. Even public school runs about 20k here a year and scholarships sound much rarer here than in the States. Jennie told me that anytime I was Sydney I was welcome to stay with her and she would let me know the next time she is in the States for a bluegrass festival!

Thursday was a field trip to the Blue Mountains. I must admit to sleeping on the trip out there and back, but apparently I didn’t miss any good scenery or wildlife. The Blue Mountains reminded me a bit of the Appalachians in how they looked and their history. Just as in the States, at the beginning of colonization the mountains were a pretty substantial barrier to the pioneers. We spent the day hiking, collecting some data for our Biology 311 class, and avoiding leeches. Thankfully it had rained the day before which supposedly decreases leech activity but there were still a TON of leeches on the trail literally wanting to suck our blood.
The only other impressive wildlife we saw was the lyre bird, which is renowned for its ability to mimic almost any sound including construction work. The birds we saw weren’t trying to attract mates so they weren’t being very noisy. The scenery was nice (though I still prefer NZ’s landscape) and there were some impressive rock formations and waterfalls. The Three Sisters is a famous rock formation that in Aboriginal lore were three sisters that were turned into rocks by their father to keep suitors away from them and he could never figure out how to reverse to change! href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmkGbufN54Vq6_9PjoNy59jGAcS-tDlCxWiZnzgysS6cEwfvdN-k4yyFjhNgiRYhnydgCOFLbwaYzHIUoBp4T0a8u1dYp28VQoPQH0DbtDN8KscBcK6XMbbpjQiQTFrta0GSa1taEelog/s1600-h/P1010698.JPG">

After returning to Sydney, Drew, Steven, Katherine, Charity, Tomas and I went out in search of kangaroo. We found a place that had kangaroo steaks for not to ridiculous price and chowed down. It didn’t really taste like any other meat. It definitely wasn’t as gamey as deer as some people had told us it would be and was almost a little sweet tasting…though perhaps that was the sauce it was in. With this nice dinner, we bid downtown Sydney farewell and went back to the Travelodge to pack for departure the next morning. The next morning, we caught a flight to Brisbane which I’ll catch up on in my next blog entry

Sydney's Redemption

So as my last blog related, Sydney was not my favorite after the first day or so. I didn't mention it before but I developed a chest tickle the day after arriving here so I've had an annoying cough for the last week. I blame it on the dirty city air.

But even though I started off not loving Sydney, I'm starting to appreciate some of the opportunities that simply weren't available in Wellington. The beaches are the most obvious perk, I've been to Bondi Beach three times now and have more fun every time I visit. The last time I went the waves were breaking nicely near shore so I tried my hand at body surfing. There were a couple of waves that really threw me around which was actually an enormous amount of fun if a bit tiring. As the afternoon waned Tiffany, Christina, and I ate at Mocean (motion but spelled like ocean...get it?) where we were amazed and satisfied by the happy hour $5 meal deals and the $10 jugs of sangria.

The next big happening in Sydney consisted of taking advantage of the Student Rush Tickets at the Sydney Opera House. I was very excited to see La Traviata becasue I believed that I had played part of it in High school. The specific song I was hoping to hear was "The Anvil Chorus" but I quickly realized that La Traviata was not Il Trovatore, even though they are both by Verdi, soI did not get to hear the song I was hoping for. However, the opera was still a breathtaking experience with amazing costuming, an impeccable pit orchestra, set changes that were of such a drastic proportion I have no clue how they managed it, and beautiful voices. Our seats were in the "premier" section which meant that they usually cost ~$270 but we only paid $55. Charity and I sat together while Steven, Drew, Steven and Jessie sat together.



As we were leaving the Opera House, Jessie suggested we go visit a club that was having a salsa dancing night that was just across the harbor. Steve, Jessie, and I ended up being the only ones to go because a few members of the group didn't have ID. Thanks to a very kind random stranger and Jessie, I learned how to not move like my hips were a board of plywood and picked up the basics of salsa. I'm hoping to make it to a few more of these and maybe even take classes once I'm back in the states. I've always wanted to learn how to salsa and also swing dance.

We got back to Travelodge at 1:30 and I crashed immediately...I knew that I had to be up at 6 the next morning! Why so early? Scuba Certification Class at 8am!

Steven, Charity, Allison, Katherine, and I are getting scuba certified together. We had our first in-water skills training on Friday and it was as awesome as it was tiring. We spent 6 hours learning about our gear and basic scuba skills such as entering the water, buoyancy control, clearing your mask of water while underwater (the overall most-hated skill by the group), sharing air, and the most important concept of never hold your breath! Then around 3pm we immediately went and applied all of this pool learning with an actual dive! Talk about sink or swim! I was so grateful for the swimming lessons I had when I was younger because I think they really helped me be comfortable and proficient in the water so quickly. I absolutely loved the dive!! I felt right at home underwater and I think I could easily find myself addicted to diving. Our dive lasted 30 minutes but I swear it felt like 5. I really need to learn some of the names for what I saw becasue even just offshore I saw some amazing biodiversity...I can't imagine what the Great Barrier Reef is going to be like! I do know that I got to 'pet' a huge Blue Groper (not grouper) that was easily three feet long and 18inches high...though Steven just informed me that once I finish my e-learning module I will discover that the blue groper was actually 33% smaller then this because of something to do with light, water, and how our eye interprets underwater....oh well. We also watched the blue groper uttery demolish a sea urchin...it took him a total of maybe half a second to break open the urchin and eat it...it happened so fast I didn't comprehend what was happening until afterwards.

We returned to Travelodge under the impression we would take a 2 or 3 hour nap and then go out on the town...riiiiight. We did indeed nap from 7-10 pm...but then ended up being still exhausted from hauling our steel air tanks around and then went back to sleep at midnight.

The next day was pretty chill up until evening. We went to Paddy's Market and bought some produce and built up some good karma by helping some friends win tickets to go see Wicked. Then the craziness started...as it was gay mardi gras and the street by our hotel was actually a staging area for the big parade. Needless to say, it was quite an education and I saw so many more man-thongs and leather outfits in those 3 hours then I ever expected to see in my entire life.

Sunday started out slowly. Got up around 8am to eat breakfast and then rather unintentionally went back to sleep until noon. At this point, we went to try and win the daily lottery for tickets to see the musical Wicked. I had won the day before and gave my two tickets to Katherine and in return Katherine came with us to help raise the odds of us winning and she did! So Charity and I went to see Wicked with front row seats. It was superb and hilarious! I'm tempted to go see it again. Other then that, I visited a couple music stores becasue I'm starting to have serious violin withdrawals. I actually had a dream about not being able to play when I got home. Unfortunately, there were no good options at any of the stores I visited though I did find a good used book store and bought Jennifer Fallon's Wolfblade to read at the beach (though I promptly read most of it by the next day...oops).

Today (Monday) has been the first day of real rain and gloominess in Sydney. We visited the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Museum which was full of scary old relics of medicine, displays of Australian pacemakers and premature infant care. The rain prevented me from going to the Museum of Pathology which was upsetting. Now that I'm done with classes I'll be spending the rest of my day writing my Biomedicine and Culture paper on the pharmakon nature of ADD/ADHD medicines. Fun right?

Things for this week: Uncle Earl concert Wed. night, Johnny Cash show at the Sydney Opera House one night, scuba diving friday, caving trip Saturday?

First Impressions of Sydney

Sydney is the most cosmopolitan city I have ever been to. Maybe I just haven't been to the right areas of Atlanta but I am simply overwhelmed by all that is happening in Sydney. So much to do, so many different types of people to watch...I want to go back to sleepy (compared to Sydney) Wellington. I don't think I'm cut out for this type of city living at all. Hopefully in a few days I'll take this back and love Sydney...I already love it's beaches! But some more details...

Charity, Jay, Tiffany, Sheri, Jordan and I went to the Kings Crossing area of town Friday night. Our guidebook related that this area had good bars and clubs...which it did, but the guidebook forgot to mention that almost all of the bars were charging covers between $10 and $20! I didn't think they even have that good of vibes or dancing. We found one good place for dancing thankfully....and hopefully there aren't any covers on weeknights.

Woke up at 7 the next morning, ate breakfast, and proceeded to walk around the city with Tomas and Sheri. Sydney does not start waking up until 9 am. We wandered around an outdoor market (art, fashion, jewelry) and then headed back to TravelLodge. I took a nap and then went to Bondi Beach with Charity and Jay. I've never been to a beach like this one...such white sand, blue water, and AMAZING waves. People were legit surfing which was really cool to watch. I think I'm going back today...tan here I come!

***Went to Bondi Beach again, this time with Sheri. Had fun, actually got in and played in the waves. Later that night went to Tropfest, the largest short film festival in the world. SO many people...and so many smokers. ick. First day of classes about to start***

Some other generalizations about Australia/Sydney....
1. Lots of people smoking....many more then in Wellington
2. Lots of blondes.
3. Much more ethnically diverse then Wellington.
4. BATS (huge fruit bats and lots of them!)
5. Good public transportation
6. Sunny and Warm :) :) :)

Final Weekend in New Zealand

So this Monday night marks the end of my New Zealand weekends. My joy is somewhat tempered by this knowledge but all good things must come to an end, no? (NO!)

We flew to Christ Church on Thursday afternoon to kick things off. There were 13 of us in our group so one of the vehicles we rented was a 10 person van that I am personally amazed made it through the weekend. It was a diesel manual that belched black exhaust, made the angriest noises, had personal "oh-sh*t" handles, supported several moss patches in the interior, and rattled enough that we took to locking the doors to ensure they stayed closed while the van was in motion. A bit surreal all in all.

We bustled around Christ Church to find dinner and some of us ended up at an Irish pub. I decided to treat myself to a good meal and split a Lamb dish with Charity which was DELECTABLE. I must make sure to eat delicious and tender baby animals more often, especially if they come with mint jus. (sarcasm)

We wandered around Christ Church the next morning for a few hours. We walked along the river and then visited their botanical gardens which were much showier then the Wellington gardens. It had rained the night before and was sunny when we visited so the dew and sunshine on the flowers made for excellent pictures. We took some time to check out a museum which had some really good displays on the Moa; an avian lineage (including a bird that was 3 meters tall!) that went extinct because of human arrival in New Zealand. After that we found a charming little produce market where I promptly spent $5 NZ ($3.50US) on 2 Kg (4.5 lbs) of Nectarines. Best purchase of the weekend. Then, it was time to leave Christ Church and head for the Glaciers!

Along the way top the glaciers, we stopped at Arthurs Pass and hiked up to the Devils Punchbowl, a very nice waterfall. As usual, Steven could not bear to follow the beaten path and forged his own little side trial...I decided stairs were boring and followed him. Continuing the trend, we ignored the suggested viewing platform that was a safe distance from the falls and wrangled our way up the river and rocks. Steven and I got close enough to touch the edge of the small pool created by the falls but could not get any
closer because of the immense amounts of wind and water coming off the falls coupled with very slippery rocks. Maybe not the smartest decision to get so close with conditions so uninviting, but the vibrancy I felt afterward was undeniable.

We made a stop at one scenic outlook which was inhabited by Kea, a very cheeky alpine parrot. It loves to tear the rubber lining off of windows, which we prevented thankfully! I played with one; I hopped and then it would hop. As soon as it realized I was not going to reward it with food, it stopped. I do have a video of this entertaining interaction which may or may not be uploaded.

We arrived at Fox glacier and I promptly crashed despite not having my book bag to prep for bed (I stupidly left it in car that detoured to see Pancake Rocks). I knew that I was going to need my energy and strength for my Glacier adventures the next day!

The next day (never quite) dawned as the thick clouds drizzled away any hopes of seeing the sun. Five of us (Steven, Drew, Jay, Charity, and myself) had upped the ante and decided to go Ice Climbing at Franz Joseph Glacier instead of a half-day hike at Fox Glacier but our nerve seemed to be in vain because of the terrible weather. Too our great surprise, our ice climbing was not canceled while the other groups hike was canceled. I soon contemplated the idea that perhaps the persistence of our head guide was not so admirable, but shifted to the more positive outlook that at least it made it very easy to imagine myself in Antarctica. Pretending to be an Arctic explorer romanticized the fact that I was dripping wet and freezing through 4 layers plus a gor-tex shell. Let's not forget to mention the extreme comfort of my boots that led to 4 sole blisters, 3 side raw spots, 2 areas of shin bruising, and an entire ring of chaffed shin skin. Despite all of this piddling physical discomfort, I had a BLAST!

The glacier was absolutely breath-taking both from beauty and physical exertion. My ice-climbing started out a bit weak as I could not get my technique right and my heels kept coming up and forcing my crampons out of the ice. After 2 abortive tries, something finally clicked and I made it up a face. I attempted one more face, which was twice the height of the previous success and more difficult and forced my way to the top. I say forced because it was definitely a case of willpower of mind over a body that did not want to swing that ice-axe again and again and yet again. It was a bit frustrating to watch the other group members get the hang of ice-climbing faster (they're all rock-climbers) but I'm very proud of my perseverance. I would love to ice-climb again.

I recouped strength by devouring a delicious meat pie (from the same bakery my two breakfast cinnamon crumblie biscuits came from) and off our group headed. As a side note, Charity got hit by a van in reverse at this point. Not serious but rattling. I must also note that embarking on a 9 hour drive at 5 pm after 8 hours of intense physical exertion once again might not have been the smartest decision even with youth on our side. Steven, however, is a beast and made the drive with only the slightest of interventions. I made it to about hour 6 or 7 of the drive and then handed off navigation/keep-Steven-awake duty to Drew. I slept happy knowing we had rid New Zealand of at least one pesky possum. We also viewed a most beautiful sunset over Lake Wanaka.



Woke up the next morning very sore, surprise surprise. The usual muscle suspects were protesting but also, curiously enough, my sternum was ridiculously tender and sore. Walking was a terribly enjoyable endeavor as I attempted to not pop any blisters on the bottom of my feet or piss my knees off any more then they already were. Thankfully, our day consisted of a bus drive and a boat ride with minimal walking.

Sunday consisted of a visit to Milford Sound, which has been judged the world's top top travel destination in an international survey, and is acclaimed as New Zealand's most famous tourist destination. Our bus driver for the 75 miles to the sound, Alan, provided witty commentary and information on the landscape and legends of New Zealand. Fiordland National Park was absolutely stunning; quite possibly the most awe-inspiring landscape I have ever seen. There were hundreds of little waterfalls cascading down every cliff, beautiful mirror lakes, the texture of the mountain sides was exquisitely chiseled, and the forest was native vegetation so a T-rex could have easily come stomping out of its primeval looking shadows. There was an amazing waterfall (aptly titled the Chasm) that had carved out the most wicked formation and cheeseholes into the rock.














As usual, the pictures and my descriptions do none of this any justice.

It was a misty, foggy day so the mountains were looming particularly foreboding-ly which really set the mood. Unfortunately, upon reaching the water the mist turned into a cold rain which somewhat obscured the beauty of the sound and made it hard to stay on the observation deck. We did, however, see a pod of dolphins and two separate colonies of fur seals!


We returned to Te Anau (minus one dumb tourist not of our group who got lost during a bathroom break!) and piled into the car to drive four hours to our next hostel. We made a dinner stop in Queenstown which was bustling right along for a Sunday evening. We ate at Fergburger which is renowned for their burgers and mine was such a delicious burger (with AMERICAN bacon!!!) that I snarfed mine it down (minus top bun) before anyone else finished! Perhaps I should of had the Little Lambie Burger with mint jus, but I was enthralled with the prospect of having American bacon for the first time while here.

A few hours of driving later, we discovered our hostel was literally in the middle of a sheep field. We were so far away from any polluting light so the night sky was undoubtedly and without question the best night sky ever. I didn't even know the night sky could look like it did! I learned about and saw huge swirled areas of cosmic dust! I mentally dubbed the first satellite I located and tracked pulsing its way across the night sky my Valentine (it was Feb. 14th both in NZ and USA). We must have sat out there for an hour just soaking it in and if it hadn't been so cold or the next morning so early, I could have easily sat there for another few hours.

As mentioned above, the next morning came early...as in 5:30 am early. The bright side was that we watched the sun rise as we passed Mount Cook (the tallest peak in New Zealand) which made for gorgeous pictures and we had some time to spend in Christ Church before our flight back to Wellington. Which concludes a most epic weekend.

This is an amazing map of where we went this weekend by the amazing and talented Steven!



As a side note of some significance, I am planning to return to New Zealand upon the conclusion of the Australia portion of the program and possibly stay in New Zealand until as late as May 10th, depending on when my money runs out.

Sevens Rugby Tournament Weekend

Sevens is a huge rugby tournament that is hosted in Wellington. It is also a weekend-long city-wide party that shuts down Courtney Place (The street with all the bars and clubs) from 6pm Saturday to 6am Sunday. It is tradition that you attend the tournament not just in costume, but in group costume. This is what I remember of the weekend.

My weekend really started out by going out on a Wednesday night as is tradition for our group. We first went and watched part of a New Zealand film at the botanical gardens titled "Shark vs. Eagle" which featured one of the guys from Flight of the Concords. New Zealand humor is interesting (and quite British) to say the least. This night ended up excellently (short-term at least) as I found a very good dance partner who was also interesting and down right adorable once we conversed outside the club. Unfortunately the whole leaving-New-Zealand-in-under-two-weeks thing kinda put a damper on the situation.

Our group visited the American Embassy the next morning which was quite the task to stay awake for. It was interesting so I didn't fall asleep and I was ecstatic at being fed real American-style bagels at the little reception afterwards. The walk back to Wier house was killer and then I then promptly day-dreamed away my Ethics class...oops. The rest of Thursday was pretty tame though somehow once again I ended up being out on the town (with a group of friends of course!) until 4am. Even though I can't remember exactly, I can venture a pretty good bet of how the night went. Started off at the Big Kumara (well known student-bar), then went to Maya and the Establishment (dance clubs) or vice versa, and finished off the night with a visit to the Garden Club. That's how predictable our nights out are.

Friday morning we woke up and got dressed in our costumes for Sevens....Sheri, Charity, and I were flamingos! We bought matching hot-pink skirts an tops and made feather ornaments for about $22 NZ ($15US) and found some tickets online for about $35US. We went to the tournament at 1pm and were among the first there. I'm glad we got there early becasue I might have been overwhelmed if I had come to the game later in the day when it was super crazy. Imagine the best Halloween costumes you've ever seen coupled with the craziest sporting event you've ever attended. Multiply it by ten and you start to get an idea of what was going on. I'll post some choice pics later. By the way, both games I saw the USA play...we lost. Our guys weren't even as good looking as the other teams...oh well. Rugby is an amazing game!

The rest of the weekend basically consisted of going out on the town, going to a music festival, visiting an art and crafts market, and recuperating. I definitely filled my quota of partying for the next few weeks but schoolwork did somehow got accomplished along the way.

Weekend Three: Sky Diving, Bunjee Jumping, and Rubbly Bits, Oh My!

This past weekend was quite crazy.

Things started off well on Wednesday night, which has pretty much become the standard 'going out on the town' night for my group. Things only got better in the form of a previous kiwi from the first night out. He was, in fact, not exaggerating when he previously claimed he managed a bar. It turned out to be a gay bar, but that (along with free champagne) turned out to be my favorite part of the night. I befriended a gay Indian Kiwi that is a Solo Cup Dealer. Beer Pong is huge here and since Solo Cups aren't sold anywhere on the North Island there is a huge market for them! I also picked up some NZ slang, some odd facts about NZ in WWII, and some other random odds and ends about NZ. I also discovered that going to bed at 4am means that I do in fact still maintain the capacity to sleep through my alarm clock going off placed at the opposite end of the room, 2 people knocking/shouting at my door and me responding to them, and 2 phone calls made to my room. I woke up unpacked at 7:50 with our bus leaving at 8. Fun ensued.

After spending 5 hours on the bus catching up on the sleep I missed the night before, we arrived in the Taupo Volcanic Region and ski-lifted our way up Tongariro. A storm was moving in, so my friend Steven made me a poncho out of a garbage bag which I forgot to take off in several pictures! Because of the incoming storm and the enormous number of bugs at the top of the mountain, I really couldn't fully concentrate or appreciate the landscape or what Dr. Parker was telling us about all the different lava flows. After narrowly avoiding having to walk all the way back down the mountain as they wanted to close the ski lift because of lightning, we bussed our way into Taupo and our motel. From there we hiked into town and ate at Macdonalds. Food is just so expensive here I can't get over the sticker shock of spending 20-30$ NZ for dinner. Macdonalds runs about $10NZ in comparison, and is soooo much nicer then Madonalds back home.

Woke up Friday morning and discovered that Kiwis simply do not know how to cook eggs. The hotel eggs at breakfast were just as gross as those at Wier House, but I ate a lot anyways to store up energy for all the hiking that was planned. We spent the morning hiking Mount Ngauruhoe (which is the stand in for Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings movie) and listening to Dr. Parker's lectures on pyroclastic flows and such. We made a drinking game out of his lectures, every time he used the word 'rubbly' we took a shot of water. Needless to say, we stayed very very well hydrated. By the end of the day we were exhausted and returned to our motel. We completed the night by trading massages, ordering pizza, and watching "The Day the Earth Stood Still".

To be finished tomorrow morning....

Weekend Three

So I'm a bit behind in posting. Oops. Here goes of what I remember from last weekend.

TO begin with, I went out clubbing for the first time. I substituted Boysenberry Nip for Manachevitz and had a fine time. One of the kiwis that I danced with made my night by randomly bringing up Old Crow Medicine Show and being able to sing his drunken way through a song. Also during this clubbing venture, I found out that kiwis prefer German accents over any other, that Party in the USA is not just restricted to USA parties, and that there are such things as clubs made to look like you are under the root system of a tree. I do not think my dance partner at the time appreciated such musings such as why the roots had no mycorrhiza and that the surface area to volume ratio of the roots were foolish. I didn’t much like him anyways.

We left Wellington the next afternoon and embarked upon an 8 hour drive that was suppose to take 6. We stopped for PB&J dinner in a motel parking lot and learned that Kiwis can be touchy about private property. Our Hostel was quite nice and included a very friendly (especially if you had food) cat and dog. We woke up early the next morning and visited Waitomo Caves. Our visit included rappelling 27 meters into the cave and rock climbing out which was great fun. My favorite part was the glowworms of the cave. They are the larva stage of a fly that use bio-luminescence and sticky 'fishing lines' to catch flies. They looked like little blue stars and with the lights off (and a tube slapped against the water to scare our eyes into adjusting faster to the dark) outdid any night sky I have seen.



The biologist within me was very pleased and pissed. Pleased because of the beautiful bioluminescence of the gloworms in the cave but pissed because I rubbed clay of unidentified composition all over my face (a cave facial if you will) and then ingested an unidentified species of fern (albiet at our guides recommendation).



In order to relieve our sore muscles, the next morning we drove through Rotarura and visited some hot springs. While they were not as amazing as we had hoped it to be, it still got the job done and we went on to Hells Gate...another Geothermal area. Hells Gate was very impressive and very, very stinky. That's what happens when you have enough sulfur spewing out of the ground to make Yellowstone jealous.



The final stop of a very busy day was our Maori Cultural Experience. At the Maori event I ate some Kumara (a native veggie almost like a sweet potato), enjoyed some lamb and ate other interesting and novel foods. The Maori show after the meal was extremely entertaining but compromised a bit of education and seriousness to be more touristy.


On Sunday we started back to Wellington but with a long chunk of time spent kayaking the Whanganui River. Everything went smoothly until the very end. We finished the paddle so quickly that there was 45 minute downtime as we waited to be picked up. The females were satisfied with sleeping/sunbathing on the cement boat ramp but the males had to go and show off their Y chromosomes. Two of these said Y chromosomes decided to kayak down the next set of rapids only to discover that they couldn't get back up them. In the process of walking them back up the river one of them got swept back downstream and for a while we were all very very worried. But we did all survive and tomorrow is a new day afterall.


We continued onto Wellington with only a slight hiccup from somebody (not me, definitely not me, oh no, not me) leaving their purse in a Subway and not realizing it for 30 km. What a busy busy weekend.

"Baa-Baa Black Sheep...where the heck are you?!"

This first full weekend in New Zealand meant a trip to the South Island. Our entire group of 38 Techies caught a 6pm ferry from Wellington to Picton Thursday evening. The ride went smoothly...played some hearts and revived the old favorite "Go Fish".

We landed in Picton and checked into our Hostel, which smelled unfortunately like Curry scented B.O. Things didn't get better from there...our group wandered off to find some food only to discover that nothing is open in Picton at 10pm...except for a sketchy Indian Restaurant that served even sketchier chicken nuggets. Then I spent a cold, cold night with no covers, not even a sheet, getting really great sleep.

The next morning dawned bright and sunny so we set off for Nelson...about a 2 hour trip. We took lots of pictures and passed through Havelock, "Mussel Capital of the World". Did not eat mussels.

We saw some tremendous landscape that in some ways reminded me of Montana with the rugged and barren hills, cows, and farmland. New Zealand doesn't have the same violent beauty as Montana though...it has lush and inviting forested mountains as well as amazing contrasts between water and mountains. Here's a youtube video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMfuUh-9k6c. We later stopped to frolic in a stream that reminded me again of being out West.



Upon arriving in Nelson and checking into a much nicer hostel, we headed off to a local beach to enjoy the fact of being on a beach in January. We found a flounder that had not followed the tide out to sea and the biologist within me was quite pleased. Steven then decided to swim out and climb a rock and we girls had to figure out a new way off the beach since our route there had been covered by the incoming tide. After that we went grocery shopping and whipped up a delicious pasta and meatsauce and sweet corn dinner. Yes, I cooked (though Steven was quite the help browning the beef).

Woke up the next morning and visited the infamous Nelson Market. It was much like an American market just with different gimmicks and a bit more cultural influence. I bought a bone carving necklace originally for someone else but then I decided that it would be quite appropriate for myself right now. The symbol is a spiral, or that of a fern frond opening and it represents bringing new life and purity to the world. It also represents peace, tranquility and spirituality along with a strong sense of regrowth or new beginnings. I've been wearing it almost nonstop the past two weeks.

From the market we drove to Abel Tasman National Park and went Sea Kayaking. We rowed our arms off to go see some furry seals which were just as cute as expected but did make some strange, non-cute noises. While the seals were cute, my favorite part of the trip was coming upon a stream and deciding to traverse up the streambed. The streambed was full of boulders and I quickly discovered that green moss was a good soothing foothold (bare feet) and that red algae was dangerously slippery. I traveled up the streambed with 3 other guys on the trip, who all brought their wine bottles with them, for 20 or 30 minutes. The stream was completely devoid of animal life, both visually and audibly, which was rather disconcerting but I was glad New Zealand doesn't have any snakes to speak of. I can't do the stream justice in pictures or words or explain how profoundly I connected to it, just that I have to return to it sometime and somehow. Allison and I split up for the row back to shore and let the boys do the work...our arms were shot.

Driving back to Nelson, we were struck by the fancy to visit Rabbit Beach. I was against this as I only wanted to get back to the Hostel, eat, and sleep but I'm glad we stopped. The sand was very nice and warm so I mostly sat around in the warm warm sand while Allison galloped around and Steven took loads of photos.






Sunday we drove back to Picton, bought some souvenirs, and caught the Ferry back to Wellington. The crossing was very choppy and there was a wave that washed against our window...on the 7th floor of the ferry! Weekend completed upon arriving in Wellington to the usual mist and gloom of Sundays.

Day Three

Yesterday was the first day of classes which means less time for adventuring around. Classes seem interesting enough, though I'm a little disappointed that my Biology class is spending 3 weeks of the 6 weeks learning about rocks.

It was beautiful weather yesterday; sunny and quite comfy with a light sweatshirt on. We went and roamed about the Botanical Gardens again in order to attend a Brazilian Samba outdoor concert. I attempted to dance and succeeded enough, but not too much, that the rest of the GT group wasn't too embarrassed to come join me. There are 28 nights remaining of free outdoor concerts...lets see how many I make it to. Alternative rock group playing tonight...but the light all-day-drizzle is discouraging.

Nap time now!

Day Two

So it’s just before our third dinner in NZ and I’m already a less picky eater. I’m still supplementing my meals with somewhere between 3 and 4 pieces of fruit but I’m eating food that I would never have touched back home such as Beef Pie and strangely prepared eggs.

But more importantly, the happenings of yesterday.

We went on a tour of Wier House which is the dorms of Victoria University Wellington that we are staying in. Nothing too crazy about the campus except for, as I’m suspecting cannot be avoided, the monstrous hills of the area

After that, we frolicked off to the Botanical Gardens which are a mere two minutes away from our dorms. As we climbed that first hill, the view opened up and I snapped a few pictures.

As we left this beautiful panoramic, a large bush/tree wall appeared. It quickly proved to be begging to be climbed, so our group obliged and scrambled on up. Feeling a bit daring, I clambered high enough to peek over the edge and glimpse the cityscape below. I was not nearly as confident in my climbing abilities as Steven so I did not bring my camera, so I’m stealing some of his pictures.

After observing some nice NZ fauna we made our way to the playground, which as everything NZ, is Xtreme.

We wandered about the gardens for several hours, at which point I almost didn’t make it up the last hill. So I hit the sack for an hour or so after lunch and then woke up to go visit Te Papa, the NZ version of the Smithsonian. The wind at this point was gale-force and made the walk into down a bit more precarious then I like to dwell on. We only barely scratched the surface of the museum so I plan on returning there soon. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that a good museum is worth all the attention you can give it.

We returned for dinner, at which point the gale force winds starting being accompanied by driving rain. This meant no outdoor concert at the Botanical Gardens sadly enough. However, I did play some post-dinner ping-pong and discovered one of my professors plays the fiddle and contra-dances! One of the other professors plays mandolin apparently, so we’ll see what develops musically. That’s about it for yesterday….I’ll post about classes and such tomorrow.