Honkey Donk: Christchurch to Invercargill

Hello friends, and Happy Easter! I finally have a chance to sit still and write about the past few days, and I can’t wait to fill you in on everything I’ve been doing! It’s now the end of day three of my Honkey Donk Mid-semester break trip. I’ve decided that I’m going to try and update roughly every time I switch locations, so stay tuned for future episodes.

We left Christchurch around 1:30pm on Friday (a tad later than originally intended, but so it goes) and headed out for our first destination: Dunedin. Having stayed up essentially all of the night before cranking out my take home Film test (I overachieved and totally intentionally answered all of the essay questions instead of choosing two so it took a bajillion hours) and my seven page NZ Lit essay (banged it out in three hours, what’s up), I was wiiiiiped. But also so excited for the trip that it didn’t matter. The drive overall was beautiful; I’m starting to realize that this is pretty much guaranteed in New Zealand.

On the road to Dunedin we stopped in Oamaru to see the Moeraki Boulders, which are perfectly spherical and supposedly 55 million years old. We went to the wrong place at first, which turned out to be okay because we had a lovely walk down a lovely beach…except the tide was coming in so it turned into a sort of run…but fun nonetheless!

We found a see-saw. We're adults. Don't worry about it.

Let's go to the beach-each!

This makes me think of Harry Potter for some reason. But sew pwettyyyy.

My New Zealand Bestie and I on the wrong beach.

Then we got directions from some locals and made our way to the boulders. It was almost dusk so the light was incredibly beautiful. It felt like we were on a different planet. I managed to completely soak my butt within about five seconds, so then I looked like I peed myself for awhile…what’s a girl to do. We frolicked around in wonderment for a bit and then (reluctantly) hit the road again.

Me on da rock

Me on da other rock

The light was so amazing. We were definitely in another world!

Okay, these pictures are kind of embarrassing but too hilarious to leave out. The rock was really hard to climb because it's perfectly round, so there weren't any footholds or anything. But I look super tall compared to it so it seems absurd that I'm struggling so much. Buuuuut oh well, I enjoy laughing at myself as much as the next guy, so enjoy.

Hahahaha MADE IT!

Triumph.

We arrived in Dunedin at night, so we pretty much just checked into our hostel and crashed. It had been a long day of driving and adventure and we were sleepy. But we woke up the next day ready to rock, and it was gorgeous weather (we’ve been super lucky in that department.) Dunedin has a completely different feel than Christchurch; it has a lot of distinct architecture and feels really European. It was beautiful and really alive. It was also a little sad because I’m sure Christchurch had that vibe before the earthquakes, and I wish I could have seen it.

Dunedin Train Station

St. Paul's Anglican Church

Inside. So beautiful!

We ALSO went to see the World's Steepest Street, which is Baldwin street. After climbing to the top, I can certainly attest to the validity of its title.

The Beatles ain't got nothin' on us!

We ended our big day in Dunedin with a night on the town, which was really fun! There’s an area downtown called the Octagon that had a ton of pubs and bars, and it was poppin'. We had a great night but were happy to get to bed when the time came.

This morning I woke up and headed to Knox Presbyterian for Easter service, which was lovely. The church was very old and very beautiful, and it was really calming to be at church. All the old people were super nice to me because I was there by myself, so that was cool too. The service itself was really interesting too; the pastor said some of the liturgy in Maori, sign language, and gave the children’s message with a puppet. Thoroughly entertaining. AND I got a free Cadbury egg as I walked out. Win Win! Afterwards, I met up with the rest of the crew for an incredibly delicious Easter brunch at a lovely little café called Capers.

The church I went to on Easter. Not too shabby, eh?

Lovely stained glass. The organ could wail, let me tell you.

A giant chocolate chip pancake filled with whipped cream and fruit and drizzled with chocolate syrup. Happy Easter to me!

We’re in Invercargill for the night, and we’re in a kick ass three bedroom apartment with a kitchen and everything. It’s SO NICE, especially compared to the kind of shady hostel we stayed at in Dunedin (some drunk person puked in our bathroom the first night...). Tomorrow we’re heading out to Milford Sound, which I am so stoked for!

Fun Facts/Updates:

-We also stopped at the Cadbury factory in Dunedin, where I bought a hollow bun bun for Easter. Yummyyyyy!

-I thought I had already seen lots of sheep, but holy guacamole. There area gajillion between Oamaru and Invercargill. They're EVERYWHERE. Just grazing away. They've got to be pretty much the happiest creatures on earth.

-GETTING STOKED TO BUNGY.

-I sent out like twenty postcards before I left, so check your mailboxes if I promised you one!

I should be able to update again in two days, when we reach our house in Queenstown. Look forward to even more photos!

Cheers!

My Nose Froze, My Toes Froze, But I Got to See an Octopus

Hello, good friends. I am long overdue for a post, as my mother is keen to point out, and I do have quite a lot to post about, so here goes.

This past weekend John, Elise, her friend Hunter from home, and I decided to venture up to the northern parts of the South Island. We had originally planned to spend Friday night in Kaikoura (about two hours north of Christchurch) and then wake up early Saturday morning to drive to Abel Tasman National Park, where we had booked a boat drop off to part of the Great Coast Track, one of the most famous hikes in the world. But we decided instead to make our way up to Abel Tasman that night, so as to prevent a heinously early morning on Saturday. This seemed like a good decision at the time, so we just spent a few hours in Kaikoura checking out the beach and eating a delicious dinner (I had gnocchi in a basil pesto sauce, so scrumptious) before heading out again.

We didn't arrive in Kaikoura until around 5:00pm, so the light was a little weird, but the views were still amazing!

Wrong side of the island for the sunset, but still not too shabby.

What began as a logical decision to drive to Abel Tasman turned into a long, tiring drive primarily in the dark. All highways in New Zealand are just two-laners, and probably like 85% take you through the mountains at some point, so there is no such thing as an easy drive. Beautiful, definitely, but also arduous. So we didn't end up arriving at our campsite location until around 11:30pm. I was driving at this point, and our directions told us to follow this gravel road to the end. After about twenty minutes of following this uneven "road" through fog, woods, and near mountain edges, we finally pulled into our campsite, which was just a grass patch with a drop box for money. We were all exhausted by this point, so we were anxious to set up camp and snuggle up in our sleeping bags for a good night's rest. However, none of us had anticipated how severely the temperature would drop that night--partially because we arrived at our campsite at night, we didn't realize how high the elevation was. So despite wearing all the clothing I had, wool socks, and burrowing into my high quality sleeping bag, I had the absolute worst night of "sleep" I've ever had. We all completely froze our asses off, but we didn't want to be the one to wimp out, so we all just suffered through the night. I slept for maybe an hour. The next morning we awoke to frost covering our tent and car, and to the realization that we had all had equally hellish nights (minus the heat). I hopped burrito style in my sleeping bag to the car, turned it on, and shivered for about fifteen minutes before beginning to thaw. Then, realizing the absurdity of the situation, we all started cracking up, and shared stories of the random ideas that had passed through our very awake minds the night before. (For example, I consciously was pleased with myself for not shaving my legs the day before, because I was under the delusion that the tiny amount of stubble on them was giving me added warmth. Lolz at myself.)

We descended down the mountain (almost running out of gas, only adding to the series of unfortunate events), and made it to our booked boat tour just in the nick of time. This was by far the most tourist-y thing I've done since arriving in New Zealand, but it was still really cool. The cruise was mostly comprised of middle aged European tourists, some whole families, and really old people. We felt a bit out of place, but seeing as the whole Coast Track in Abel Tasman takes 5+ days to complete, we wanted to make sure we hit at least part of it. So the boat took us to Medlands Beach, and then we hiked about 5/6 hours back to the pick up point. Since we had all gotten crap sleep the night before, we weren't necessarily prepared for such rigorous activity at first, but we definitely got into it! The hike was beautiful, and midway through we decided to go off-roading. Hunter is really adventurous, but also has a really good sense of direction (helpful), so he loved running off the path and finding different things for us to see. 

This picture is only about fifteen minutes into our hike. I cannot get over how consistently turquoise the water is here. Insanely beautiful.

The portion of the Coast Track that we did is the most varied, so we were able to see loads of different types of natural life. This picture shows pretty well the forest/beach contrast that we got to enjoy!

The best part was about halfway through the hike we decided to descend down this somewhat sketchy path to a private beach and have a siesta! We had around 7 hours to complete the hike (to allow enough time for the old people), so we had plenty of time to relax. It was amazing, and we had perfect sunny weather. We chowed down on our trail snacks and played around in the waves before taking sandy sun naps.

We really couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.

Abel Tasman is known for having yellow sand, and that was definitely the case! It looked exactly like cookie dough (I did not sample it to see if it was, in fact, dough).

My feet were happy to be out of hiking boots for awhile!

It was also low tide, so there were tons of fun creatures for us to examine.

At the very end of our hike, we were able to take the low tide option, so essentially walk on the ocean floor. It was really cool to see all the shells, clams, crabs, etc that hang out there. The surface was really dense clay, and it happened to be really slippery, so I managed to slip and land on my left hip. Thankfully, the previous 24 hours had been so ridiculous that I just laughed for about five minutes (we all did), and carried on, chocking it up to bad luck and a good future story.

This is the low tide area we walked through. So gloopy and so interesting!

We made it to our pick up destination with about an hour to spare, so we expected to just chill in the sand until the boat arrived, until I heard this German woman sort of shouting and pointing to the water. My extremely limited German prevented me from having a clue as to what she was saying, but we walked over only to discover that she had spotted an octopus swimming just feet from the shore!! It was too dark to snap a picture, but it was SO COOL! It was several feet long and a sort of cranberry color, and it was just blooping along (that's how I think octopi swim. Bloopily). I definitely was not expecting this amazing end to our journey, but it's totally the kind of thing that keeps happening to me in New Zealand. You have these incredible adventures and then as soon as you think they're over, something else amazing happens!

The pickup beach (Anchorage) where the octopus was spotted!

I know this post is getting crazy long, so I'll try and give the Reader's Digest version of the rest of the trip.

We had planned to camp out again on Saturday night, but we were all so exhausted and traumatized from the night before that we splurged and booked beds at a hostel in Picton. It was like being in the Four Seasons compared to our antarctic torture tent. We slept like rocks before catching a shuttle back to Christchurch. We met a British guy named Danny who is currently cycling around the world for UNICEF, and really enjoyed talking with him. He gave us his blog/website, so if you're interested, let me know and I can give you his information!

We passed through Kaikoura again on our way home, and were lucky enough to pass a large group of seals!! The bus driver pulled over randomly, and I was at first crabby because I was anxious to get home and shower. But then we realized why he had stopped and our anger turned to pure joy! There were multiple pups with the adults, and they were frolicking around without a care in the world. My pictures aren't so hot, but I got a pretty good video of the pups swimming in a little tide pool and waddling around (they look hilarious), so I will try to post that somewhere at some point.

See the two/three sunbathing on the rock? I wanted to go join them!

There's a little guy waddling around. Seals are awesome!

We finally made it home around 7pm on Sunday, and I was wiped. It was a great weekend though, and definitely re-ignited my love of New Zealand and everything I'm doing here. I leave Friday morning for my giant three week trip, and I am itching with excitement! (Or maybe it's just the eight bajillion sand fly bites I got at Abel Tasman.....)

Fun Facts/Updates

-Abel Tasman National Park is the smallest in New Zealand, covering only 225 square kilometers. Despite this fact, it is one of the most popular due to its coastal views and varied terrain.

-I didn't say much about our time in Picton, but I completely fell in love with it. It is the connection point to the North Island (the ferry goes between Picton and Wellington), so it's a total harbour town. It's the first place I've been that I could actually see myself living in. Don't worry Mom, I promise I'm still coming home in June!

-It has been crazy trying to keep up with March Madness (mad even...ha). I'm not doing so hot in my bracket overall, but I am pleased that my Hawks are still hanging in there! I'm definitely Rock Chalkin' from afar.

-I have become a tea junkie since arriving here. My favorite is New Zealand breakfast tea with milk and sugar. YUM!

No telling how much I'll be able to post while I'm on my trip, but I'll do my best. I'll be doing a week on the South Island (Dunedin, Invercargill, Milford Sound, Queenstown, Fox Glacier), a week on the North (Wellington, Mount Taranaki, Matamata (The Shire), Waitomo Caves, Rotorua, Auckland), before finally participating in an IES sponsored field trip to Rarotonga, which is the largest of the Cook Islands. Needless to say, I have lots to look forward to...and lots to rest up for!

Cheers, friends!

Rugby For Dummies, and Other Insights

Shalom, good followers. I'm just accepting the fact that these are going to be weekly postings until I leave for my epic mid-semester break trip. So sorry to you die hards who check this thing daily--while your loyalty is appreciated, I cannot reward it.

This week has been pretty swell. It's starting to hit me how quickly the weeks are flying by--I'm going to be on a plane to LA before I know it. That being said, I'm doing my best to use my days wisely.

There were two big, noteworthy events this week. First, on Thursday I got my third tattoo! Now, for my family members that are not so keen on tattoos, I'm sorry. But they are important to me and I'm very excited to have gotten one here! It is a silver fern, which is one of the most prominent symbols of New Zealand. It's on my right wrist, and, most uniquely, it is in white ink! It's not healed yet so it looks a little funky, and I have to go back for another sitting to get the leaves filled in, but I'm pretty pleased with it.

The silver fern grows out of a koru, which is a Maori symbol meaning new life, rebirth, peace, etc. I really like the idea of having the product of those things, the fern, on my body, and I think the white ink makes it feel more organically a part of my skin. (Also more subtle than black, which I would never get on such a visible part of my body. Another thing my less-than-keen family members can appreciate.)

The second big event took place this evening--my first ever rugby match! A big group of us decided to go to the Canterbury Crusaders' home opener against the Pretoria Bulls. This was a bit ironic/poetic, as the Bulls are from South Africa, the location I very nearly studied abroad in. The atmosphere was really awesome, and it felt great to be a part of such a prominent NZ tradition! I took a few minutes prior to the match to google the basic rules, since I am an idiot when it comes to rugby, and although this helped, I was still confused about certain aspects of the game. 

Rules/Concepts I Understand and Can Therefore Communicate to You:

-There are 15 players on each side, each attempting to score a "try," which can be done by either grounding the ball in the goal area or kicking it through the goal posts

-Passing can be done by any player, but it can only be lateral or backwards, no forward passing allowed

-There are 8 Forwards, which are the stereotypical giant muscle-y rugby dudes that you're probably thinking of. They lock their arms together in a "scrum," which is like a giant dog pile type thing that determines possession/position (I think)

-Anyone can kick at anytime, and it's usually done to avoid being tackled

Rules/Concepts I Don't Understand and Would Therefore Like Someone to Explain to Me:

-I don't get how possession changes. Like, you can get tackled and the play still continues. The clock pretty much never stops, and there are like no penalties. So apart from someone dropping it and the other team getting the ball, I don't get how that works.

-The ball grounding in the goal type of Try (like a touchdown) is worth 5 points. But the kicking Try is worth less. It seemed like this amount varied, which doesn't make sense to me.

The game was awesome, and the Crusaders are really good! They trampled the Bulls (see what I did there?) 41-19, and it was such an exciting atmosphere! Pretty much everyone had flags and scarves and jerseys, and giant fire rocket things shot off every time the Crusaders scored. It was epic.

This is like right after a scrum, so you can see a bit of the pile-up left.

Crusaders score! Note the fire.

Thomas and I purchased flags to demonstrate our die hard fandom. GIVE BLOOD, PLAY RUGBY-GO CRUSADERS! (Nice motto, eh?)

Crusaders 4 Lyfe.

Tomorrow, I unfortunately have an essay to start, so that's kind of a bummer. However, it only has to be 2000 words, and is my only real assignment before break, so I really can't complain too much. Plus, Sam and I are hitting up the farmers' market first, so that will be a sort of preward.

Fun Facts/Updates:

-The Crusaders are the most successful Super Rugby team in the world, having one 7 titles in their history.

-The Crusaders really milk the whole medieval part of their mascot, beginning the game with horses, swords, fire (pyros), etc. This is pretty cool, except it leaked over into the halftime show. The cheerleader people came out with swords and just danced around like prostitutes. It was actually the worst halftime performance I have ever seen. The only bonus was that it was set to Thunderstruck by ACDC.

-I made friends in my New Zealand Lit class! Hooray! This had previously been surprisingly difficult, because I usually am quite chatty in class and therefore get to know people quickly. But this course is all lecture, so there isn't much opportunity to speak with people. However, we have to do group projects throughout the semester, so I'm getting to know my group members pretty well now. It's much nicer to have people to sit by and chat with! (Only before and after, of course.)

-I am officially getting homesick for really weird, little things. These things include:

-My bed (not surprising, it is made of rainbows and Jesus' love)

-Pretzels (not a thing here)

-March Madness (Seriously in mourning without being able to watch my Jayhawks)

-Normal milk (they don't have skim here so it tastes pretty fatty and weird)

-Snow (I KNOW I'm super lucky with the warm weather here, but I will go the whole year without playing in the snow! This makes me sad.)

-The clothes/shoes that are not currently in my closet (things get old after awhile)

These little things are of course nothing to the big things: my family, friends, puppy, home, Gustavus, G-Choir, Greeters, Sigmas, etc. But it can be surprising how much the little things matter!

-I am starting to send out my fleet of postcards, so keep checking your mailboxes! It's so fun to write them, and I can't wait to start getting mail/packages myself. (HINT HINT)

Happy St. Patrick's Day, friends! Cheers!

Hakuna Matata

I am so exhausted from this weekend. But if I don't write this post now I won't get to it, so I will carry on. Just for you, loyal readers. Just for you.

THIS WEEKEND was pretty amazing. After classes on Friday, we (Sasha, John, Sam, and I) headed off to the west coast for the annual Wild Food Festival. This takes place just south of Greymouth, in a sort of dinky little town callled Hokitika. There's only one highway to get there, and it travels through Arthur's Pass, so the drive was completely gorgeous. We arrived in Hokitika without a hitch and managed to find our campsite with relative ease (we stopped at a convenient store to double check...and conveniently get some ice cream). We assumed we would drive up to a hut or something and someone would give us a site number or direct us. But oh, were we wrong. Some kid put wristbands on all of us and told us to park anywhere. Um...anywhere? Before us was a giant grass field with a bajillion tents and cars everywhere. Just a bit daunting. But we found a homey looking spot, assembled our tent (my first time!) and began to settle in.

This gives you an idea of the magnitude of our campsite, but it really can't be captured in a photo how huge it was. I felt like I was at the Quidditch World Cup. (photo courtesy of Sasha)

John and I were very triumphant after (during?) our tent assembly. (photo courtesy of Sam Sam)

We'd heard some history about this festival, but we didn't really know what we were in for. Turns out it was completely insane. Everyone at the campsite was around our age, and they were all running around, partying and mingling. SO many people had music blaring, and everyone was clearly there to have a good time. Friday night was quite loud, so we all took a sleeping aid to help knock us out. My first night sleeping in a tent went smoothly, although I can't say my neck thanked me for it in the morning. We woke up relatively early and headed to a cute little cafe for breakfast. They had some of the best food I've had in New Zealand so far, and really good hot chocolate. It was good to eat some real food before going to the festival and filling our bellies with "food" that should probably never be consumed.

There were a TON of booths, and we sort of did a lap to get the lay of the land before trying anything. They had some normal food, like fish and chips and stuff, but most of it was really flippin' weird. Things I ate/drank:
-Rhubarb champagne (delicious)
-Wild boar sausage (gamey but pretty good)
-Fried shark (very fishy but alright)
-Kangaroo burger (really good, sort of tasted like turkey)
-A shot of moonshine (SO strong, tasted like Listerine or nail polish remover or something)
-ANNNNNND....a chocolate covered huhu grub (repulsive)

The whole point of this thing is basically to sell icky bugs and crap to drunk people (almost everyone was all day, it was nuts). We were sober, however, so the grub was a bit rough. The chocolate saved me, because that's all I could taste, but the texture was soooo nasty. It was like a cross between a gusher and chicken fat. Yummy, right? They also offered live grasshoppers, various types of testicles, heart, eyeballs, etc. We opted out of those things, but I'm proud of myself for trying the grub. Go big or go home!

This is exactly how I felt...

...which is probably why I looked like this before taking the plunge. 

(photos courtesy of Sam Sam again!)

The group of us that braved the Huhu grubs. (Me, John, Elise). Elise went for the BBQ variety, which I actually think served her well because it was crunchy instead of...whatever mine was.

The other funny thing about the festival is that it has a theme every year, and people are encouraged to come in costume. This year's theme was "Hunters and Gatherers," so we were expecting to see lots of camo, animal print, leaves, earthy colors, etc. There was some of this, but for the most part people just dressed in completely random costumes, and most looked like idiots. My personal favorites were a group of Pikachus, Barack Obama (he drank beer through his mask, classic), Bananas in Pajamas, Smurfs, and Power Rangers. I don't think I've ever had more fun people watching in my entire life.

We took sun naps and people watched after awhile...gotta let that grub settle, you know.

Bananas in Pajamas! (photos courtesy of Sam)

We left the festival full, happy, and tired. Little did we know that there was a rager of a party waiting for us back at our campsite. Some people had brought giant speakers in their van, so they set them up and had a giant dance party. It was actually pretty fun, and we had a few drinks with some friends and socialized for awhile. But luckily for us, everyone else had been drinking all day, so they all pretty much passed out by midnight. So we were able to get a fairly good night's rest.

This morning we got up nice and early to beat the crowd! Plus, at the car rental place I happened to pick up a Hokitika brochure and we found a picture of a blue gorge, so we decided to head out to try and find it. It turned out to be one of my favorite things about the weekend. The Hokitika Gorge has some of the most naturally turquoise water in the world, and it's a really interesting combination of beach, rock, and forest. It was so beautiful, and we arrived about twenty minutes before a large group of tourists, so we were able to really enjoy it before it got too crowded.

Our first glimpse of the blue...so amazing! It's pretty much exactly how I pictured the Mermaid Lagoon in Peter Pan to look.

I like rocks. And climbing them. 

The gang in Neverland (basically)!

We made it home around 5:45 this evening and were very glad to return to our nice warm beds and showers! All in all though, it was an incredible weekend, with just the perfect amount of spontaneity (I mean, I ate a grub after all!)

Fun Facts/Updates:

-I am officially going to Australia at the end of May!! I just booked my flights today and I am SO excited. I'm meeting my Aunt Susan there and then we will travel back to Christchurch together, where we will meet up with my parents! I am so lucky and thankful, and I can't wait to spend some time with my family in paradise! Also hold a koala. That will be happening.

-People here say "no worries" or "that's alright" instead of "you're welcome." So like at a restaurant, when they bring you your food and you say "thank you," they respond with "that's alright." It sort of makes me feel bad, but I guess that's because at home that would be a natural response to "I'm sorry." Interesting how things make you feel when they're used in a totally different way.

-If you hadn't noticed from the photos, I did not in fact dress up for Wild Foods. I did, however, find a majestic dolphin t-shirt at the Salvation Army,cut it into a tank top and proceed to wear it all weekend. It's pretty much my favorite article of clothing now.

-I'm still getting better at cooking. Last week I made homemade alfredo sauce with chicken, carrots, tomatoes, spinach, garlic, basil, oregano, and mushrooms. It was scrumptious if I do say so myself. I am not joking when I say that I attribute my success to years of watching the Food Network.

Time to sleep in my nice, warm, not on the ground bed.
Cheers!