Mid Semester Plans

[confession: I was going to put in links to all the things I'm going to do, but I ran out of time. Between school work, spotty internet, and laziness, I'm just really busy ok?]

This coming Thursday marks night one of my Mid Semester Break. Yes, I'm taking Friday off. Anyway, the proximity of mid semester means many things, both benevolent and not so good.

Benevolent things:

1. I'm half way to coming home (yeah, I do miss you guys!)

2. It's nearly spring time (I'm hardly ever super cold anymore)

3. I have a week of no classes (classes are a real drag, you know)

not so good things:

1. Mid terms (geology, Maori studies)

2. Essay deadlines (all the same week, of course: history, psychology, and Maori studies)

3. finals are getting closer. UGH.

So, basically, my break is going to be chock full of exciting activities (yes!) and long car rides. If you've ever done a long car ride with me, you know how I feel about that (not yes.).

Here's the itinerary of the biggest things:

Christchurch--> pub crawl

Marlbough--> 7 hour wine tour

Abel Tasman--> three day tramp (yeah, I'm doing it again...)

Fraz Josef--> glacier hike 

And many other little things in between which I can't be bothered to detail for you now. And quite frankly, they'll probably not be detailed here because like I said, I have essays and stuff.

On the other hand, I won't have money to do anything after break aside from eat, so I might just be updating my blog everyday about all the pleasures of daily Kiwi life. Like chocolate fish.

Anywho, you know my rules about posts sans pictures, so here are some group pics from my Humpridge Tramp:  

Hump Ridge Track

Tramping. Backpacking. Hiking. Whatever it’s called, it’s excruciating. 

This past weekend (August 14th, 15th and 16th, [happy birthday Ed!]) I hiked Hump Ridge Track. Or rather, as they say in NZ, I went tramping. There was a group of nine of us.

The Hump Ridge Track is a three day tramp, the first day being a nine hour hike along the beach, through a jungle, and finally up a mountain. And, I mean a mountain. The kind where there is snow on the top. The kind where I am literally using my hands as well as feet to walk because the slope is so steep.

Here is a picture of the mountain from the carpark.

Oh yeah, and I’m wearing a freaking pack. And pack means hiking backpack. Here I am doing some stupid pose with my pack. Which didn’t fit right for the first day (you know, the nine hour-mountain part).

But, those views from the top of the mountain are worth it. They are worth the sore shoulders and aching back.

There were trees from Dr. Seuss books.

And mind boggling rocks.

And the sunrise was awesome.

On day 2, we walked along the top of the ridge through what looked suspiciously like Fangorn Forest.

We spent the next night in a converted school house (I was too tired to get my camera out and snap some pics, sorry!) which had (seriously) a triple-decker bunk bed. Yes, I slept on the bottom layer because I was too pooped to climb a dang ladder.

However, at this point I feel that I should point out a few events, which began on night numero uno.

1.     1. We all went to bed at 8:30 pm because there was no electricity at the lodge. And we had all just walked for nine hours, the majority of which was pretty much straight up.

2.     2. At about midnight, other people arrived at camp. I slept through this, but saw them and their three bottles of whiskey the next morning.

3.     3. The three Kiwis, Paul, Harry, and Glenn, and Glenn’s dog (named Bourbon) not only did the mountain part of the track in the dark and drunk, but did the second day (7-8 hours) in like 4 hours. And then they set up a bon fire on the beach and invited us all.

4.     4. Hilarity ensued. (I love listening to the phrases which Kiwis use, because it’s hilarious.) I can’t explain beyond that.

5.     5. The next morning, Glenn had taken off with Bourbon and was nowhere to be found.

6.     Oh yeah, and the still drunk Kiwis totally woke up before any of us. Which was quite irritating, to say the least. I was so tired.

Day three. Along the beach to the carpark. Probably the longest and most tiring day of my life, because I was so close and yet, always so far away. I thought it was going to rain, so I packed away my camera. There isn’t much to report other than I found some cool rocks and picked up some sweet shells.

All in all, it was a sweet as experience. 

 

Updates

Hey guys, its been awhile. I just finished uploading my LOTR trek pictures, and I have a ton of pictures from my HumpRidge Tramp to put up. However, due to all my weekend excursions, I'm super behind on all my readings and research. Oh, education, you're so inconvenient. 

Anyway, hopefully I'll have time to upload the pics before my mid semester break, after which there will be a shit load of pictures, if you excuse my French. 

Also, remember that the titles to the previous two posts link to a web album of additional pictures with explanatory captions. 

Until next time...

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT REALLY LOOKS LIKE THIS, part 2

Here we go... sorry about the delay. Also, sorry about all the misspelled names of characters. I'm too lazy to look the correct spellings up.

Lord of the Rings. Something most Kiwis (read: my Kiwi host) don't care about. Something I still hesitate to tell people ("Hey, what are you doing this weekend?" "Er... I'm doing a horse trek... of Middle Earth..." awkward moment while I gage what the other person thinks of LOTR).

So clearly, LOTR put NZ on the map for me. Really, it was all the extras I watched diligently with Sara again and again. And yes, visiting the real Middle Earth was a top priority for me. And yes, my slightly worrisome obsession with all (most, I don't know Elvish and I never will!) things LOTR, led to me saying repeatedly, "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT REALLY LOOKS LIKE THIS!" 

(a guide's horse)

So, Sunday morning, again dawned far too early (7:30). We checked out of our lovely hostel and (this is something that is so awesome about NZ) we were picked up at our hostel and taken to Dart Stables 45 min outside of Queenstown. (Where in America does the tourist company actually take really good care of the customers? Picking and dropping them off?) 

We stopped real quick on the drive out to see where the olliphants attacked. It looks exactly the same.

From there we were taken to our horses and we began our journey into Middle Earth/ other movie sets. 

(me and Priesly)

I saw the field Hugh Jackman ran through naked in Wolverine. 

I saw where Boromir died. Also where Prince Caspian fell off is horse and blew the horn that called the great kings and queens of old back to Narnia.

I saw Isengard. 

I saw where Frodo met Galadrial and she tried to take the ring.

Really, Lothlorian forest didn't really look the same in real life... but Isengard was amazing. And riding horses was amazing, if very painful afterward. 

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT REALLY LOOKS LIKE THIS!, part one

Queenstown. Hotspot for international students and any persons with a penchant for adventure. If it's terrifing, Queenstown probably offers it. Bungee jumping, sky diving, paragliding, skiing (you'll see, it is!), jet boating, rafting, and driving really fast around really tight bends while ascending and descending mountains. Oh, and probably the best burgers in the world: Fergburger.

I skipped class on friday (BA, bro) in order to make the four hour journey across the south island to Queenstown, which is located in the Southern Alps near the west coast of NZ. I traveled with three friends from AustraLearn (Jenny, Sara, and Kirsten). We stayed at a lovely (read: new) hostel, which was decorated like a night club (sorry, no pictures!). Our hostel was, conveniently, located right in town, which made walking to food a hell of a lot easier.

We rang in our weekend the only conceivable way: by going out for Mexican. The phonetic spellings of basic Mexican foods were a reminder that we are, actually, on the other side of the world. 

Also, I learned why Americans don't use the metric system. A liter is just not enough. Who wants a just liter of Sangria? At least it was nice and strong.  

Saturday morning dawned too early (literally, like 7:30 am), but the ride to The Remarkables was absolutely beautiful, if not slightly disconcerting, simply due to the fact that I was riding in a bus that was trucking up the side of a legitimate mountain. I mean legit mountain. Snow-capped and everything. The Remarks were probably like, five minutes from Queenstown if not for the 45 minute ride up the mountain. 

(wee!)

As for the skiing... well, there's no question that it was the most beautiful place I've ever skied. However, there is a substantial difference between hitting the slopes and ski fields. They are appropriately named, because there are no trees. Unfortunately for me, the visibility was extremely low, and not because it was blizzarding, but more because everything was the same color. I couldn't tell the difference between what was in front of me, what was no doubt a cliff just a few meters away, what was the sky, and what was the trail. 

(confused at what you are looking at? me too!)

Furthermore, most of the ski field was either back country skiing (any one fancy dropping off a cliff?) or terrain parks (no, I don't do terrain parks, I'm too much of a grandma skier), which meant The Remarkables felt way smaller than they were.

(me, not hiking up the mountain to back country ski)

Although it wasn't the perfect day skiing, as I hoped it would be, it was still a fantastic experience. No regrets here. I do want to take lessons again though. I'd love to feel comfortable enough to try back country skiing, but until then, I'll stick to the good old slopes.

(me on a legit trail, yes it was a green)

We had Fergburger when we got back to town, and let me tell you, drinking beer after skiing is great. Just awesome. 

Coming up soon: Lord of the Rings horse trek (it deserves its own post). Stay tuned.

PS, the title is a link to more pictures!

I Love to Run (seriously)

(tell me you don't want to be here)

Surprisingly, on of the best things about where I live is the Botanic Garden. I try to go for a run at least once a day, which doesn't always happen, and even more shocking then the effort I put into going for runs is how sad I get when I don't have time for one.

Anyway, the last time running ever gave me a high was probably in high school when I was training for cross country. Since graduation, the actual activity of running was a mixture of humiliation and torture.  But here, my run is the best part of my day. Mostly. 

The Botanic Garden provide many shady trails and awesome views. And there are a ton of totally awesome trees and even a giant agave plant, which is mind boggling.

I love to run to a little field that overlooks my flat complex:

And here is the wide view. Now you know why I love to run here:

And here is my favorite tree (really, it is my favorite):

An awesome view of the harbor: