I'll start with our field trip to Springfield, which is about an hour outside of Christchurch. It's totally in the middle of nowhere, so the views were beautiful. We started out with a hike around Castle Hill, which is actually the place where parts of Narnia were filmed. Soooo I basically went to Narnia. No big deal. Once we reached the top (which was quite a hike actually) we got some free time to rock climb. A few people in our group are pretty experienced climbers, so naturally they had a field day. The rest of us were still adventurous though, and found some pretty sweet spots to explore!
This day also happened to be 80 degrees and sunny, so by the end of the hike we were all disgusting. As a reward, we drove to the most beautiful lake tucked between a bunch of mountains and took a swim. As most of you know, I am a total lake rat and love to be in the water, so this was like Christmas morning for me. The water was so fresh and amazing, and to look up and see mountains all around us was breathtaking.
The next day, we went to a local sheep farm and got to see how things worked. We first did some conservation planting, which involved planting a ton of brush-sized plants/trees in preparation for larger ones. After that, we headed out to meet some of the animals! We got to feed the sheep, watch the herding dogs, Blue and Sky, do business, and meet the alpacas. It was so incredible to see how well trained the dogs were. The main commands that a shepherd uses are "come by," which means to go left, "come out" which means to go right, and "walk up," which means to creep along slowly so that the sheep walk instead of run. It was amazing to witness; at one point he had the dogs walk up so that the sheep were held just feet in front of us.
The sheep we saw were meat sheep, not wool sheep. However, if their wool was to be sold, it would be carpet quality, and would sell for around $6/kilo. Sheep whose wool would be used for clothing and nice blankets can get upwards of $35/kilo.
These are the dogs "walking up" on the sheep! So impressive.
We also met the alpacas, which are goofy looking.
After the farm stuff we went jet boating, which was SO COOL. Jet boats are essentially giant jet skis that can hold around twenty people. They have aluminum bottoms so they can go over rocks with no damage, and can run in as little as two inches of water. We were in a totally secluded river and it was breathtaking. The driver enjoyed speeding towards rocks and cliffs and then turning at the last minute, which was awesome. I don't have any pictures of that because I didn't want to get my camera wet, so just imagine the most beautiful and exciting place you've ever been and multiply that by fourteen. Then you're pretty close.
Today we had our first free day! A bunch of us decided to take the bus to Sumner Beach, which is about forty minutes away. Upon arrival it was a delightful sunny and 80 degrees. We immediately threw down our stuff and headed out to the water. It was perfect ocean temperature, and the waves were of surfing quality, so we body surfed and splashed around for awhile. Fun fact: while romping in the Pacific I felt a pain in my foot. I thought I had stepped on a shell, so I pulled my foot up to get it off. Much to my surprise, I found a CRAB with its pincher around my big toe. This was both mildly terrifying and infinitely cool.
We only had intentions of staying for a few hours, but we ended up building a campfire and staying until 10:15. We went to the grocery store and got some good beer and hot dogs (called cheerios here, another fun fact) and had a good ol' bonfire! It was so much fun. My friend Elise and I also had the brilliant idea to make s'mores with the Tim Tam cookies I mentioned before, which was indescribably delicious. It was a wonderful day with wonderful friends.
Oh yeah, and there was guitar playing at the beach. So lovely!
Some more fun/short facts:
-I have more flatmates! Sarah and Rodessha I already mentioned. I just met Elise (different from beach Elise) who is from Vanderbilt, and Molly, who is a Kiwi. Both are nice, although Molly enjoys laughing at my American way of saying things (ie "grocery store" instead of "super market." I don't really see why that's so funny, but whatever). We apparently have another one from Malaysia, but I haven't met her yet.
-I didn't know where to stick this in my summary, so I'll stick it here. While in Springfield, we stayed at Smylie's Accomodation (people say that here instead of hostel or hotel), which is a small farm in itself. They have a pet pig named Kuni, whom they have trained to SIT LIKE A DOG. Yes, that's right. The pig can sit. She is also really friendly and basically acts like a dog all around. Too cute.
Kuni hammin' it up (get it??)
-Some of us went to a different grocery store that was much cheaper, and I actually feel accomplished! I made a list and did research and actually have food for meals, instead of just sad hobo food.
-There are no screens on any of the windows in our apartment, or on the sliding door to our balcony (yes, balcony). This is nice, because then you get a better view, but also allows bugs and things in. There aren't mosquitoes here, but moths like to come and hang out a lot. Also, the other day Sarah and I walked into our kitchen and found a bird. It's casual.
Tomorrow we have our first day of Orientation through the University (people say "Uni" for short). After that a few of my friends and I are planning a trip to Queenstown this weekend, where I will attempt to survive bungy jumping, among other things. Yay/Ahhh!
Alright, this is getting excessively long, so I'd better sign off here. I've got to attempt to get the gallon of sand out of all of my possessions before I head to bed. I'll try to update again in the next few days!
Cheers!
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