A Rough Rugby Weekend

Well, this week went well. I submitted my paper for Anthropology and was able to relax a bit after Monday. It's strange how little work there is here. A professor assigns one or two writing assignments per semester and places a ton of emphasis on them, and it turns out the assignments are only about 2,000 words each. The hard part is actually getting oneself to sit down and write because you're not in the academic mindset. Hmph, such are the trials and tribulations of college. Poor me (pouty face).
Anywho, I was able to go out on the town with Karlee, whom I hadn't seen for at least a week, on Thursday night. We grabbed burgers and ended up at Danny Doolan's, a pub in the Viaduct area down by the harbor. They have great live music, outdoor seating with heat lamps, and on this particular night, the English Air Force rugby team, which was a fine representation of British belligerence. A very entertaining night.
On Friday, I researched a bit and then went to the gym then went to celebrate a birthday downtown that night. It was a pretty run of the mill Friday, but on Saturday I woke up and just felt on top of the world. I grabbed coffee from the best cafe ever, went to the gym early in the morning (1 pm), read some of my book and then got ready for a rugby union game: Auckland Blues vs. Canterbury Crusaders. The Blues lost but it was a pretty cool game and afterwards we hit up an amazing burger place called Burger Fuel. They serve fries with Aioli sauce, which is basically mayo and garlic I believe? But I prefer to call it heaven.
Today (Sunday), I woke up, grabbed another coffee with my neighbor Rachel from the Philippines at the best coffee place, and was then whisked away to a Rugby League game, which is actually considered a different sport from regular Rugby because certain rules are different. It was a very exciting match between the Auckland Warriors and the Cowboys from somewhere in Australia. Again, Auckland lost, but it was worth sitting outside in what would be mid-November weather back home in the pouring rain in basically summer clothes because when I walked outside this morning it was boiling out. Stupid me....they ALWAYS say Auckland gets 4 seasons in one day and I should know this by now. Oh well, I hadn't showered this morning, so the rain was good for something.
After the game, five of us Loyola kids and our kiwi friend went for pub fair and coffee downtown and that leads me to my present position. I'm currently staring down my book, daring it to make me read. I think it will succeed, but just....one........more......sentence.............

Ah, I've babbled on enough.

Autumn in Auckland

Well, since we returned from the South Island, we went on a mandatory Loyola trip to Taupo and Rotorua, which I think I'm going to let slip through the cracks...
Well, okay. I'll give you a teaser:
Waitomo glow-worm caves, buffet, dinner, buffet, thermal valley walk, Rotorua, buffet, Department of Conservation presentation, buffet, activity of some sort, buffet, I'm sure, Sheep Show, Zorbing (rolling down a hill in a huge inflatable plastic ball with a little water in it that affords one a slippery journey), huuummm, oh- buffet, a tour of a wildlife reserve/ natural spring?, a trip to mud geysers and geysers at a Maori sacred ground, buffet, buffet, luging, and a buffet. And I'm not exagerating about the amount of buffets...
So after I rolled myself back into my dorm room, it was back to work. Huia Residence felt a little boring right after I got back from 2 and a half weeks of travel. I was actually worried that I'd get bored, but luckily this isn't France in that I actually have WORK to get done while I'm in Auckland. And work I have. I tried to argue the concept of rights from a deontic standpoint versus a consequentialist standpoint in a case where an innocent man can be thrown in jail to spare town riots breaking out. If you can decipher what I mean by all this, I'd love to know.
I'm currently working on an Anthropology paper that expores whether or not globalization is contributing to the homogenization of cultures worldwide. I'm to discuss this point based on an ehtnographic study that I'm to conduct on the Yanomami tribe in the Amazon, whose land is under threat by others who would choose to exploit the land for more lucrative purposes. Wow, I missed academic writing. Feels good to work again and I'm slowly getting back into the habit of concentrating- it's tough though, believe me.
Hm what else? OH! I found out that I was chosen as president for the Belles for next year. We have a lot on our plate, but I'm so looking forward to organization and extracurricular activities to keep me on track. This is coming out as such a nerdy posting...
My residence hall had a "formal" dinner last Friday, which was at Skycity complex. If you've never seen photos of Auckland, there is a skytower here that is comparable to the Seattle Space Needle, or whatever they have in Toronto. Below the tower is a complex with hotels, casinos, bars, and this random restaurant that we expected to be quite posh. We all walked in, some wearing floor-length formal gowns, and were met by the stares of Asian tourists dressed in t-shirts, eating tons of fried and finger food that would eventually be our dinner as well. No, no scraps, but it was pretty funny to walk into this place decked out only to have an entire restaurant in plain everyday clothing stare at you like you're nuts. That's when I started telling people that we were a travelling bell choir whose members were recruited all over the world to come perform at the speed boat racing championships that were taking place in the harbor the next day. Ha, not.
What else about Auckland, and New Zealand life in general? My new favorite coffee is a Flat White. It seems to be the caffienated beverage of choice: a double shot of espresso, I believe, with that whipped milk. NZ is like France in that all their coffee is only espresso based. Starbucks is the only place I have been able to find filter coffee. And there is no creamer here, only regular and non-fat milk. But at least the portions are larger (Hm, I sound American..) None of those thimble-sized take-away cups for a sip-sized "coffee" like in France... I suppose coffee is one thing about which I remain particular whilst traveling.
Also, New Zealanders say "quite" a lot. "Keen" as well. These are fun words to throw into the mix. "Biscuits" are small cookies. And so on...
I'm running to an inter-floor debate right now to watch my friends compete...the first question to be argued was whether or not Marge Simpson is a good role model. This next question should be good.

Spring Break Cont.

Well, that night after skydiving was perhaps the coldest of the trip. The three of us decided that this would be a night for all of us to cram into the van, though it was still quite cold.
Morning arrived and we fell out of Alice, threw on some clothes and made our way to Franz Josef Glacier Guides for our day hike on the glacier (pronounced glassier here). We were given jackets, mittens, boots, and crampons. I thought we'd be given pants, but apparently they only do that in cooler, wet weather, so I was in thin spandex for the trip. Oops. This turned out to be a problem going through our first ice tunnel...more on that in a bit.
We were bussed to the trail head and made our way to the rock field below the glacier. There, we split into groups and chose the middle group so we could take everything in at a leisurely pace and enjoy. When we reached the base of the glacier, our group was split in half again and we donned our crampons and met our guide, Dan, who was pretty cool. He's what some people call a "Half-Pac," which is half pacific islander (Maori) and half Irish (or any nationality from the U.K.). My Maori friend said that it's not considered a derogatory term, although I'm interested to hear multiple opinions on it.
Anyway, Dan led us up a steep ice staircase onto the glacier where we spent the day tracking down blue ice and slipping and sliding our way around. The blue ice, which you can see in some of my pictures is pretty cool. We learned that it's caused by the lack of oxygen in the ice due to the pressure of the glacier, and therefore blue is the only color of the spectrum that is can reach this point in the ice? Something like that.
When we came to our first cave, we had to crawl on our hands and knees through a very narrow hole. Probably reason number one not to wear spandex on the glacier, although some were in shorts and got their knees cut up pretty badly by the jagged ice. The only problem I came across was not being careful with my crampons. I nicked myself pretty well on my calf and there's still a huge bruise and I the cut may or may not scar...oh well, add it to the collection.
After a nice long day on the glacier- we got the only two days of nice weather for doing our outdoor activities at the glaciers!- we drove on toward Wanaka with the oil light on the entire way. That was about 280 km maybe 170 miles? I felt as though I could hear the engine grinding, but Karlee and Tyler said that that happens all the time in their own cars at home and it usually goes off. Well, same, but we were on a road trip all over the South Island and I did NOT want to break down so I said that I didn't want to drive any further the next day unless we got oil somehow first.
That night we camped on the shores of Lake Wanaka. It was crazy windy and the tent spikes wouldn't go down into the ground because of the rocky shoreline. After about an hour of trying to keep the tent in place and having it fall on her numerous times, Karlee came back to the van and told me "It's not working." So we threw the tent into the front seat and all crammed into the van that night. It was kinda funny to see how she'd been sleeping in the tent. The spikes had come out of the front of the tent and it was collapsed in on her. Poor girl.
In Wanaka, I decided to buy a bottle of oil and top up the oil tank. I owe a HUGE thanks to Aly, because she'd taught me how to do this in VT when the oil light was on there. Unfortunately it hadn't worked then, but I found the oil tank, poured the oil in and the light went off! Thank goodness. The car also seemed to run a lot smoother afterward, which Karlee noted as well. I'm really glad I figured out how to do that at that point.
On to Queenstown, Round Two. We arrived at the Happy Hippo Lodge again, puttered around town, signed up for a Milford Sound cruise the next day, and an Easter pub crawl that night, and drove to one of the areas renowned wineries for a tasting. The guy giving us the tasting obviously didn't know what he was talking about and just kept telling everyone that certain wines tasted like gummy bears and pear. Really? Anyway, Karlee, Tyler and I agreed that a one certain dry Reisling was the favorite and moved on back to town for a slice of pizza.
Insert pub crawl and the ensuing Easter egg hunt at midnight.
The next morning we got up at about 6:45 and were on a bus by 7:45 on our way to Milford Sound in the beautiful Fiordland region of the South Island. I forget exactly how many "sounds" there are, but apparently they were all misnamed because they are fiords and I can tell you the difference between a sound and a fiord. A fiord is carved out of the land by a glacier moving out to sea. A sound originates by a river flowing out to sea. There is no liquid water source that creates a fiord.
Milford Sound is a 4 hr, roundabout drive from Queenstown and there is no direct access to it besides one road that must circumvent an impassable region of the Alps, but the drive is well worth it. Fiordland is an incredible display of wild, rugged terrain, the result of thousands of years of crushing and grinding tectonic plates far below. One can easily see exactly where and how the land was pushed up in a sort of pattern. It's just breathtaking nature at its finest.
Our Sound cruise on the other hand featured low-lying clouds and some rain. We had a good time and at the very end of the tour the sun revealed a tiny bit of the snow capped peaks and glacier surrounding the area. Then, a long drive back to Queenstown, after which we continued on toward Dunedin.
We arrived in the university town of Dunedin midday the next day and visited the Cadbury Factory there. YUM! An enjoyable experience except for our wiseguy tour guide who made it his job to make everyone feel bad about their limited chocolate knowledge. No matter. We drove out to the Otago peninsula that night and saw gigantic sea lions, and wild yellow-eyed penguins. It was pretty neat, I have to say. We watched one come in from sea, waddle up the beach and back into the dunes, where humans were not permitted to trespass. That was a pretty surreal experience to see such a rare creature in its natural habitat.
The next day, we hiked out on the peninsula again through sheep pastures to see Lover's Leap and the Chasm, two points where the land has basically dropped into the sea. Long way down. We actually weren't paying attention to the trail markers and followed a side trail that ran just along the drop off point for Lover's Leap and I was following Karlee and Tyler and looking down so I didn't realize where exactly I was standing until I hear waves crashing below. Yikes. That would've been the ultimate free fall of the trip I suppose...
On our way out of Dunedin, toward Christchurch, Tyler wanted to stop off at the world's steepest residential street. Steep.
Then we visited Maori rock paintings and these things called the Elephant Rocks which were used as a setting in the first Narnia film. I think it was the part where the 'bad guys' are having a pow wow one night and they've captured Azlan. Can't be sure. I need to watch the movie again.
At dusk, we went to see blue penguins returning from sea for the day, which was one of the coolest parts of the trip. I wasn't too keen on spending $20 NZD to watch a bunch of penguins walk across about 60 ft. of gravel, but I ended up learning a lot and watching them waddle in a huge bunch together was pretty cool. We also got to see some that had come home from sea another way, outside of the reserve where we saw the rest.
On to Christchurch! Karlee and I sat in the front seat, Karlee driving, for this leg of the journey. We got to the area outside Christchurch and needed to find a place to pull the camper over and stay for the night, so we figured we'd go out on the peninsula outside the city. Well, after about an hour of winding around neighborhoods, we turned on the navigation system and found out we weren't even on the peninsula yet, but it was a pretty funny tour of a really nice area of town! Finally we pulled over in a parking lot at a trail head next to some very noisy cows.
Well the time came to make our way to the airport. We parted ways with Alice, and cleaned her out! Yuck. Got to the airport with plenty of time to spare this time around, which was comforting. Flew back sans Karlee and Tyler because I unknowingly booked the last seat on my flight but they found an itinerary that left 1/2 hr before me and arrived in Auckland about 1/2 behind me. Aaaaand we made it back to Huia for a comfortable nights rest before waking at 7 the next morning to go on a Loyola trip! And I need to include a whole update on that! More to come!

Spring Break in the South Island

Well, I hope you're sitting down. This could take a while...

On April 1, Karlee, Tyler and I set out to catch the shuttle to the Auckland airport to catch our flight to Christchurch on the South Island's (hereafter referred to as S.A.) east coast. After our guide leading us in the wrong direction to the bus stop, and then about a 45 minute wait without a bus, we called a taxi and arrived at the airport just as our flight was boarding. Heart attack no. 1 and a crazy beginning to a crazy two weeks.
We arrived in Christchurch and found the town to be quite quiet, for it was a Wednesday night. We did have a very lively encounter with out hostelmates, however, who returned to the room belligerently drunk very early in the morning. One tripped over his long board, another banged his head into a low-lying ceiling beam. In the light of their flashlight, I saw the silhouette of a very spiky, very tall mohawk. Part of my wanted to laugh hearing these guys fall all over and part of me was terrified of the person sleeping in the bunk just below me!
The next day we had breakfast and walked around Christchurch because our van rental needed a repair. It seemed like a somewhat depressed town. I'm still not quite sure what I think of it. When we finally picked up our Alice, she was sprayed painted bright green with scenes from Alice in Wonderland covering every inch. Our rental van came from a company called Escape (which we pronounced escahpay- like from Nemo- for the duration of the trip). They graffiti all of their vans and we enjoyed seeing our fellow Escapees throughout the trip, although we never found a van as cool as Alice.
Since we'd been delayed in our first day, we had to hightail it up to Able Tasman National Park for the night- about a 7 hour drive. We passed through, and took pictures at, Kaikoura, which is a gorgeous coastal town with snow capped peaks crumbling down into the azure sea. Very stunning.
The next day we were able- ha, in Able- to rent kayaks and take them to Split Apple Rock, which we renamed Apple Bottom Rock, which then had us making up our own version of Flo Rida's "Low." 'Seals with the fur' I believe was the next line...Speaking of which, we ran into a few sea lions, coming within about a yard of one who seemed to be putting on quite the show. From Able Tasman, we continued another 6 hours or so to Goldsborough, the site of an old mining town that now is only the site of a Goldsborough trail head and a free camp ground. I got to camp for the first time on the trip, which was fun. That night I heard Karlee exclaim "A kiwi! I see a kiwi! I'm not kidding!" but I'd already tucked myself into my sleepingbag and was half asleep. The next morning I heard noises all around my tent that slightly sounded like hedgehogs and I figured they were either that or some sort of bird. When I poked my head out of my tent, I saw a bird standing there and ran to the van. I woke a groggy Karlee and had her pass me my camera.
"I see a kiwi, too! I'm getting a picture of a kiwi! You're going to be soooo jealous!" And so I started to photograph the bird, then another one popped out of the woods. Then another...and another...and before we knew it there were about 12 birds surrounding us in broad daylight and we reasoned that these couldn't be kiwis. We later found out that they are wekas, which are very curious birds. That explains one of them trying to run away with Karlee's toe as she put her contacts in.
That day we drove into Arthur's Pass, one of the two passes that crosses directly from the coast to coast in the middle of the South Island. There are no other roads that are as direct as Arthur's and Logan's passes. If you want to get to the north of the west coast you have to go all the way around the periphery of the east and northern coasts. If you want to get to Queenstown, you can drive down to about an hour north of Dunedin, then begin to cut across. This is due to challenging terrain and I would imagine also due in large part to land conservation. There are very few major roads in the South Island. The upside: scenic drives!..like this one.
So, Arthur's Pass. We drove up into the clouds, hiked to Devil's Punchbowl Falls and the Temple Basin track that ended in the bowl of the Temple Basin ski area. The clouds started moving in at this point so we forged on, down to the glaciers!
We arrived at Franz Josef, had a meal at the Speight's Ale house- Speight's by the way is a New Zealand-brewed beer, the "Pride of the South" as they say, and they have a lager called Summit, which tastes exactly like Long Trail. We camped at a campground that night in a mining town called Okarito, which I referred to as Okatiro, Otariki, Otakiri, and many other variations I'm sure. In the morning, we had our first showers of the trip in their $1 showers! Oooo what a luxury to be clean. That was the longest we went without showering- 4 days, I think- and we never went that long again because we learned that cleanliness was not only detrimental to our appearance (this took a back seat to the next reason) but also that it was imperative to the general mood of the car and everyone's disposition. The longest we went after that was 3 days.
We had arrived with the intention of glacier climbing the next day and skydiving the next, yet discovered the forecast to be miserable for the ensuing few days. So we moved climbing to the 11th and figured skydiving wouldn't happen anyway, and continued to the town of Wanaka for two nights.
Wanaka is not only situated on the beautiful Lake Wanaka, but it also is located in the foothills of Mt. Aspiring National Park, where many "ski fields" are established. The town itself has a "ski village" vibe and is very laid back. We enjoyed hiking the Diamond Lake Trail, visiting an award winning micro brewery, seeing "The Changeling" (sp?) in one of the country's most peculiar theaters (forced inside by rain!) and eating a hearty meal beside an outdoor fire after a chilly hike in the rain. I would love to see Wanaka in the wintertime!
After hearing from our skydiving friends, we were given the go-ahead to continue on to Queenstown, as the weather forecast for the glaciers was still poor. To Q.town we went! The drive was only about an hour and a half from Wanaka and we passed our bungy outfitter on the way in and moved our Thrillogy up a day. What's the Thrillogy you ask? More on that in a bit.
Driving into Queenstown, I felt as though I was entering my utopia. There were mountains everywhere surrounding the massive Lake Wakatipu and in between mountain and lake was nestled the outdoor adventure capital of the world. Walking down the streets, we saw signs for any kind of outdoor activity one could imagine. River luging, heli-biking, bungy jumping of course, skydiving, Lord of the Rings ATV tours, winery tours (okay, not an outdoor activity but an integral part of the New Zealand, and Queenstown in particular, cultural experience. I'm not joking). Everything. We promptly rented bikes while the sun was out, and headed out around the lake. We got to the 8 km mark, when the sun suddenly disappeared and clouds rolled in from Fiordland at the far end of the lake. Uh.oh.
They say that New Zealand can easily experience four seasons in one day. Never was this more true than during this bike ride, when our warm, sunny, day fast became a freezing torrent of rain. Tyler was able to speed off back toward town, but Karlee and I had jeans on. And wet jeans make biking particularly difficult. We finally found our way back to Tyler with mud sprayed across our backs and smiles on our faces- albeit, breaking smiles.
That night we grabbed a bite, returned to our backpackers, the Happy Hippo Lodge, and settled in for a good night's sleep before the THRILLOGY.
I didn't get much sleep, however, thinking about throwing myself off of not one, but 3 platforms the next day attached to nothing but a cord of elastic that would hopefully snap me back from the Earth just as I plummeted to a point within meters of a rocky/ watery/ tree pine needley death. Then the sun rose.
The Thrillogy: a series of three bungy jumps, the first being the world renowned Nevis. This platform, suspended over a gorge by steel cables, allows for a free fall of 8.5 seconds from a height of 134m (440 ft) above the ground before one feels any tension on the rope at all. The three of us realized the magnitude of this jump after we were wheeled out to the platform in a cable car that had a grated bottom that allowed you to see exactly how high up you were. After a long wait because I was the second lightest in the group and had to watch almost everyone go before me, I was strapped up and walked to the plank. The technician began his countdown from 5 but I jumped at 2 because any longer and I might've stood there all day. Weightlessness. My body froze. "Oh my god" escaped as I fell towards the ground and FINALLY felt a gradual tension in the leg bands I was wearing. I had completed the 3rd highest bungy jump in the world!
Number 2 was Karawau Bridge, the original site of commercial bungy jumping. Everything seemed like a piece of cake after the Nevis, that is until I stood on the platform ready to go. I still got nervous but I was ready this time. We were given the option to touch the Karawau River below and instructed to jump outward so that we wouldn't be submerged past our fingertips. Well, I think Karlee and I jumped too far, because neither of us touched the water, but it was still a fun experience.
Number 3 was called the Ledge. It's suspended over Queenstown at the top of the gondola and you're able to jump however you like because your harnessed in from the front of the chest. Tyler flipped, but Karlee and I just ran as fast as we could off the end. By the time we jumped, it was snowing and we were freezing! I have to say this was probably the scariest hang time out of any of the bungies because the Nevis' pully system was very high tech and the at the bridge they just lowered you onto a raft and let you walk back up from the river bed, but for the Ledge you had to take a carabener and latch it onto your harness yourself and when it's snowy and windy and you're being blown in every direction while hanging above Queenstown, it's a little nerve-wracking.
Thrillogy: complete.
That night, we drove back to Fox Glacier because the forecast for the next day was sun! So we parked on the air field and camped out there. In the morning we had but a short walk to our next day's adventure...
...Which was AWESOME! After camping basically in the middle of town, we rolled up in Alice, donned wind suits (tres chic), strapped into some harnesses and jumped in the plane! Karlee and I rode up together. Our plane first flew out over Fox Glacier, then up to Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman, the two tallest peaks in New Zealand. We were able to photograph stunning views of the snow capped Southern Alps, as well as views of the tropical forest and sandy beaches that were but several kilometers away! What incredibly unique landscape!
Then came time for the jump. Lazlo, my instructor, opened the door- heart attack number 4 or 5- and I hung myself outside the plane as I was told to do, and then we just floated away. The free fall was fast and I struggled for my breath a bit. It's an awkward feeling having air rush past you so quickly. I guess I tried to kind of catch it in my mouth. It was pretty funny. When the chute finally opened, the harness yanked me up and then we floated back down to the ground, but not before doing a few spins. Terra firma.
Sore from the previous days' bungy thrills and our nerves shot, we decided to check out the Franz Josef thermal pools, but upon seeing the prices, we figured it would be cheaper to just check into a campground and go in their hot tub, so we did that. We ended up running into a group that was studying in Perth and one guy from Elon actually knew two people that I knew in high school. Small world, indeed.
Well I'm going to leave things here for now and continue in a bit.

Weekend at Omaha Marae

This past weekend, the Loyola group was shuttled to a Marae about an hour and a half outside of Auckland on the lovely shores of the Northland's western coast. A group of young guide from Potikiri Adventures escorted us and led us through the welcome ceremonies performed by the owners of the marae. A marae, by the way, is a Maori meeting ground. The land is very sacred to the Maoris and shoes are not to be worn inside the marae building, nor are food or drink to be taken inside. The welcome ceremony began with our group standing at the outskirts of the marae, the women in front and men in the back. As a Maori woman chanted a welcome from the doors of the building, we walked forward slowly and entered the meeting house to the right side, the visitor's side. After paying our respects to the elders of the marae, we sat for a formal greeting given by a man named Uncle Perry. Then, as Maori tradition dictates, the greeting was followed by a song sung by the woman and Uncle Perry. Then it was our turn. Brent gave a short speech thanking the owners for sharing their place with us and we sang a song in Maori, following the lead of one of our guides.
The formalities having ended, we ventured outside as the sun crept lower in the sky to take pictures of the idyllic setting and kick a soccer ball around a bit. Dinner followed, and then a drive to the local pub, where we got to know our guides better. I spoke with one guide in particular and found that she is an avid climber and she offered to take me climbing around Auckland! I haven't got her info, but we'll see that group in a few weekends hopefully again when we go to Taupo and Rotorua. I would absolutely love to learn how to climb while I'm down here!
The next morning, I woke before everyone else to a bright orange and pink sky. I grabbed my camera and ran outside with two others who'd been admiring the same view. Being awake at that time of day when the rest of the world is still asleep and everything is calm is such a powerful experience. I wish I'd actually just put the camera down for a moment to take it in more.
I feel as though I've been doing that a lot this year, grabbing for my camera and completely forgetting where exactly I am and why I want to take a photo in the first place. I find myself enjoying places more via my photos than the actual, tangible setting. Note to self...
So our first activity of the day was the local Farmer's Market in town, where vendors sold local oddities but nothing too extraordinary. I did get sucked in to buying a purse for a fairly cheap price. Other than that, nothing too exciting so we moved on to the beach where we splashed about a bit, frolicked, then left. Nothing too exciting that day until the afternoon.
The post lunch part of the itinerary began with Maori stick fighting. We began with a warm up of ten suicides of back and forths in decreasing order from 10. Does that make sense? The first suicide included ten runs to the opposite side of the lawn and backpedaling back, and the next repetition included nine back and forths...Repetitions of either ten sit ups or ten push ups (yea right, me? Upper body strength?) were alternated between the suicides. The exercise was actually really welcome except for the sun and the fact that I had just eaten quite a large lunch.
On to the fun stuff: We got our stick's and I can't remember what the Maori term for them was or what the actual art of fighting was but I was puuuuumped. Our teacher was some 5th level -out of seven, and there are only 12 people at the 7th level in the country- champion who was intense. His intensity was probably compounded by the fact that his first language was Maori and he struggled a bit with English so he'd just kind of show you moves and expect you to get them by example. No worries for me. Then it came time to fight each other and Karlee and I were paired against each other. If you don't know Karlee, she is my 6'1 roommate for next year and the two of us tall blondies were made to enter the ring of onlookers and fight. The blocks, and attacks for that matter, that we'd just learned went out the window and we found ourselves saying "Okay, I'm going to hit you hear now! Find a way to block it!" The fight must have looked pretty lame because we were more concerned about not hurting each other, than getting the moves right. That went on for about two minutes....exciting stuff, lemme tell ya.
After stick fighting, I was able to take out my aggression whilst kayaking. We played a few games, paddled around a small reef, then turned back toward shore, but not before a rousing game of Cowboys and Indians. Red paddles vs. White and Yellow. Seeing as I was hot from the 10 suicides and had not successfully taken out my pent up aggression on my future roommate for fear of upsetting rooming relations for next year, I found myself diving from my kayak, onto the vessels of others, sliding across their laps, and landing in the water, taking my opponent and their kayak with me. I think I need to get back into contact sports. I really don't have a good enough outlet for this aggressive streak. I was reminded of the drawbacks of these sports though, when a huge black and blue contusion (sp?) appeared on my left thigh the next morning. When I got back to my hall, my floor mates were asking "Oh my gosh! What happened!?" "Maori stick fighting," I said.
That night: Dinner, reading, volleyball, bar and planning of the South Island trip with one of our guides from a South Island town.
On our third and final day, we were able to get our itinerary changed and two guides took us snorkeling at a local marine reserve. We saw some huge snapper and two other kinds of smaller fish, the names of which escape me. It was a neat thing to do, although I do not think I'm made for snorkeling. I don't know if it's my lung capacity or what, but I just never do well with snorkels. I'd also had flu like symptoms for over a week at this point, so, ya know, maybe that had something to do with it. Either way, I was absolutely exhausted by that point and luckily the next activity was perfect. We were driven to perhaps the most beautiful beach I've ever been to. I promptly spread out my towel, laid down, and slept.
Later: Closing ceremonies and 'thank yous,' a visit to a Kauri tree, and back to Auckland.
In other news, I went to the health center today to try to clear up this illness issue. We have student health insurance here apparently, on top of a socialist health system and you know what that means......FREE MEDS! I am a firm believer in socialized medicare. Mmm mmm good. Although I've found that medication here in NZ is a lot less powerful that French medicine and I think I'd still prefer to get sick in France, should I choose one country in particular in which to come down with something, or develop something in the case of my abscess. That's enough.
What else? I went to watch my friend here get a tattoo of the New Zealand silver fern on his foot on Friday. Yikes! Looked painful, but it came out really cool. The place seemed a bit dodgy and they didn't bandage his foot afterward or clean it much. Then again, he didn't take these precautions himself, so I guess we'll see how it heals! Got my wheels spinning, though.
So I suppose I'm beginning to use this as a procrastination tool. I better get to work, however, because I'm leaving for a two weeks in the South Island in about 48 hrs. I don't really know what's going on in my life, things are happening so fast.

CanyoNZ

On a beautifully bright New Zealand day, 12 Loyola students packed into two ten-seater vans- one of which was Death Trap from the Coromandel- and journeyed off into the Waitakere Range to test their mortality.

Our kidnap..., I mean, guides drove us up, up, up into the forest and finally told us to get out of the vehicles at an undisclosed, remote location. One of the guides opened a shed to reveal racks of wetsuits and shoes, helmets and harnesses. We were instructed to grab all the necessary equipment and then get back in the vans to be driven to another undisclosed location. Once at this second location, we were lined up and made to trek a half hour's walk into the middle of nowhere. Finally, after much panting, we stopped at a mountain stream and put on all of our equipment. Then, our guides forced us to jump into the water, and sumberge ourselves completely. Only then would they consider letting us go free. I was the first to jump and as my head dipped beneath the surface of the water, I felt the chill of the liquid run all through my wet suit. Wide-eyed and a little breathless, I surfaced again to meet the gaze of our smiling guides who said "Congratulations, you're initiated!"

My friends and I jumped, slid, and rapelled, one by one from pool to pool, making our way down this unsuspecting river in the middle of the North Island wilderness. Some jumps were free jumps and we were allowed to enter the pool however we wished. Others had to be executed just right, or else there would be consequences. When we came to slides, we'd lay down, head first or feet first, and swoosh down a naturally formed water chute. Rapelling was perhaps the most exciting part of the day, however.

With no one at the bottom of the first high waterfall, our guide called out my name because she knew that I'd been able to tie my ropes correctly and that I'd had experience rapelling before. I was first and I was to go down with no belayer below. So she strapped me in and down I climbed to belay for the rest of the group! I'd done this sort of thing in gyms before on man-made rock walls but being in the outdoors and rapelling with water crashing on your helmet is a different experience entirely. It is so fun!

We stopped for a bit of a lunch beside a pool that was home to two fresh water eels. I wasn't sure how I felt about knowing that there were creatures like this in the deeper pools into which we'd been jumping, but I preferred not to think about it...

I was able to have a great conversation with the our guide Connie from Chile as well. She'd gone to school for Eco-tourism and Adventure Tourism management, which I thought was the coolest thing, and it got my wheels spinning about grad school. What if I moved down to Chile, just picked up Spanish as I went along with my classes learning how to do all sorts of great adventurous things in order to make a living!?!?!

After a long day, we were driven back to Auckland and we quickly found ourselves in Father Ted's pub with some good hearty food and live music. Who could ask for anything more?

For the past few days I've been puttering around Auckland, and I've noticed some random things, some of which I guess are signs that I'm settling into life Down Under. The first was that I called cookies "biscuits" today without even thinking about what I was going to say. That surprised me, but not the boy I was talking to because he's from England. So I had no one to share my matriculation in NZ with. Secondly, speaking of biscuits- and this is a shout out to Christie- I was walking through the convenience store today and I was in the cookie isle and I saw them. Sitting there in all their glory were the chocolate covered HobNobs that Christie and I lived off of during our drives to and from Scotland 4 very long years ago. As soon as I saw them I thought, "uh-oh," but as I sit here now eating the buttery digestive, I feel nothing but bliss, which I'm sure I'll pay for later, but for right now I'm perfectly content.

Another thing I'm getting used to is which way to look when crossing the street. I may also just be paying more attention to the traffic lines painted on the ground. Whichever.

My hindsight is starting to kick in, too. I have this awful habit of being so wrapped up in traveling and the differences I encounter while traveling that I forget to simply enjoy where I am and I have to wait until I've been away from a certain place for a few months in order to fully appreciate it. So it's getting to be that time when the weather gets cooler and the leaves begin to turn and I think to myself, "I just experienced autumn not so long ago, only I was in France." I miss things like being able to sit outside at cafes, the chime of the tram when it is about to stop at St. Eloi, and the freshly baked baguettes. I miss the friends I made when I was in Europe and I miss the culture and history I was able to discover with them in so many different places.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love New Zealand and I think I am able to love it more at the present because I can pick out the things that are different about this country that I appreciate and that I know I will miss in hindsight when I am back in the U.S. France and New Zealand are just so completely different though. People ask me which I like better and I tell them that there is absolutely no comparing them. They are just at opposite ends of the spectrum.

While Europe has been inhabited for thousands and thousands of years, New Zealand has only known civilization for less than one thousand years and was only colonized less than 300 years ago. It is such a young country that is celebrated for it's natural wonders and breathtaking scenery. Europe has the art, the architecture, and the tradition. I think it is such a neat thing to compare these two places and see what from Europe has made it's way down here to the Southern Hemisphere and, for that matter, what is unique to thise region in terms of landscape and Maori culture. I think about France being the seat of higher thought and the avant-garde approach to government while I live among people who belong to a thriving indigenous culture that is protected and maintained so well here. It's just too cool for words.

Hiking the Tongariro Crossing

On March 13th, I rented a car from a guy named Frank who constantly referred to me as "Madam." He runs a small rental car agency outside of Auckland and agreed to let 18-20 year olds rent cars, as long as it was clear that in the event of an accident, we'd pay 3,000 NZD. Not sure if you were meant to know that or not, Mom and Dad...
Anyway, I picked up a nice red automatic (!!!) four door from Frank's place and started south for Tongariro National Park two hours before rush hour traffic was even toying with the notion of making life a living hell for novice standard users. Take that.
I made it to The Crossing Backpackers at about 8pm, ate some dinner with my travel mate, and nestled into my mummy bag early in anticipation of our 6:45 bus to the trail head. At first, I thought I might have learned to deal with mummy bags. Thinking back to this past summer's expeditions in Seattle, my mummy bag and I had a rough start together. Sleeping on Shi Shi Beach one night, I awoke in a pool of sweat that my "zero-below" bag had caused. I went to unzip the zipper, which was all the way above my shoulder, but it suddenly got stuck somewhere around shoulder-level. And, being a mummy bag, the space was too confined for me to lift my other arm and somehow free myself from what had suddenly become a straight jacket. After 5 minutes of desperate fighting, I forced my other arm up to where the zipper had caught itself, took each side of the zipper, and ripped until I'd unzipped my sleeping bag down to the knee region. Cool air suddenly hit my chest and I felt as though I'd gotten a breath of fresh air after having endured Chinese water torture for hours. After that I had a lot of contempt for this thing.
So having reunited with mummy bag for round two in New Zealand, I zipped the zipper to about my waist- for I dare not zip any further- and tried to fall asleep. Well, the cool room started to get reeeeaaallly warm all of a sudden... so I unzipped further. Then I need to turn over, but when I did so I got all caught up in the inside lining. But I couldnt right the lining because...its a mummy bag. It's impossible to maneuver your feet in those things. So after tossing and turning for about 2 hours, I just layed the bag over myself and found that to be the only solution to this mummy bag saga. I didn't do that in the first place, Dad, because I would've been sleeping on a bare hostel mattress....yes, I anticipated your response.
Well 6:15 came, I popped up, boarded a bus and began the 18.5 km trek by 7:45 a.m. I was surprised with myself, seeing as Aly and I usually make it a habit of hitting the snooze button until about 10 a.m., throwing on some sort outfit, and wandering to the trail by 11 a.m., only to hit the summit just as the bad weather rolls in. Al, I'm feeling ambitious for this next summer... this whole getting up earlier thing is really beneficial for not having to run up the mountain in order to have daylight for the trek down.
I hiked at a pretty good pace for about 4 km, but suddenly at kilometer 5 it was as if someone had just yanked the terrain up with a string to a 45 degree angle. I felt as though I was climbing straight up and thought my heart would pound out of my chest. That continued for a whole kilometer, at the end of which, we'd reached the base of Mt. Ngaruahoe a.k.a. Mt. Doom for all the Lord of the Rings buffs. From there we had a nice kilometer or two to traverse a flat crater, then straight up a bit more to reach Red Crater, a volcanic black and bright red hole that had thermal vents seeping from it's rock walls.
After a lunch of pepper cheese and chicken sandwiches, We continued up a bit more to a breathtaking vantage point from where one could see for miles around in a 360 degree radius. The trail from there continued to three sulfurous mountain lakes, known as the Emerald Lakes. They looked a lot prettier than they smelled, I have to say. But they were bright turquoise and an incredible contrast from the Red Crater that sits beside it.
Another traversing of a flat crater, a walk by Blue Lake, a downhill stint for about 8 km past thermal vents in fields of New Zealand bush and I was done! We ended just in time to catch the 2:30 bus back to our hostel and book it back to Auckland that night in order for my hiking partner to get back for an appointment.
Since Tongariro, I've ventured across Auckland's bay to the quaint town of Devonport. I also celebrated an eventful St. Patrick's Day at Auckland's finest pubs- after attending all of my classes that day! Last night, my friends and I also brought a blanket out to the Domain and just sat and talked for a very long time, which doesn't sound like much but our conversations get pretty hilarious. I think a few topics were Dracula, our dogs, annnnd kebabs. So that was enjoyable. This Sunday I will be going canyoning and bringing a camera on this one would probably be a terrible idea, but I'll be sure to let you know the outcome, if I survive jumping, repelling, and sliding down waterfalls...