Wandering

A little late night posting before a obligatory productive week:
  As I heard from one of my friends recently, who undoubtedly quoted someone else, "Not all who wander are lost."  A realization of this came to me this week with a hike on Wednesday with my friend who goes by the name Kiwi.  Elise actually ran cross country with him at Luther and told me that he had dark curly hair and would be studying at Otago.  I approached a man fitting said characteristics and lo and behold, there was Kiwi!  We finally got around to meeting up and going out for a hike out to no where in particular.  I figured we would just find a near by trail but we passed the turn off for the nearest one without me noticing to later and end up going just outside the city to the north.  We stayed on a mountain bike trail for a little while before eventually climbing over a barbed wire fence and up through a grove of Eucalyptus trees to an open pasture.   I never would have imagined how good it felt to get off the trail.  It was so nice just walking through pure New Zealand.  No maps, no other people, no idea where we were.  Just us, some sheep, and the swirls of thoughts in our heads.  I feel like I took a lot more in that afternoon than usual.  It could be that I'm getting more comfortable and open to the subtle miraculousness of the country but I think there's something to be said for exploring your own way.   I was way more attentive to my surroundings and my interactions with them when it was up to me to decide where to go.  Nothing was physically leading us to a great view or around prickly bushes.   We did in fact find a great view and I think I only ran into one prickly bush, but the reward was so much greater than previous hikes.  Sometimes walks on paths can feel like a movie reel being played as I walk.  It was great to be the director this time.  I hope to do more wandering off the path in coming weeks, months, and years.  At this time, anyone looking for a good post can stop reading now; anyone wanting to help me make a decision can continue reading....
It's decision time for whether or not I keep my Physical Geography class.  I like the subject matter but have missed the last two labs and would have to spend all day Friday to make them up along with doing this week's lab.  In addition, I would have 3 more Fridays this semester where I would be locked into staying home for the weekend due to late labs in the afternoon.  Whether I drop or not makes no difference what time I graduate it would just be an extra 3 credits of electives.  When answering the question "Would I regret dropping the course when I look back at my time in New Zealand?" I quickly say no.  But the good student and conscience inside me is telling me to bite the bullet and finish the course.  Shouldn't I finish things I start?? Particularly when it comes to knowledge and education?? Most of my learning here so far has happened out of the classroom but this subject material is interesting in regards to city planning.  So are my other 3 courses though.  Anyway, it's no longer wandering time on this decision and if anyone reading has any advice I would love for you to comment and post it.  Thanks a bunch! Love ya.

"What did we do to deserve this?"

Well another successful weekend is now under my belt as the reality of needing to start a  couple essays sets in.  This weekend the location was Fjordland National Park on the western side of the south island.   I was a little nervous at first before going because my very sore Achilles tendon was making me far less mobile than I like to be at 19.  Although it did make me have empathy for those who have trouble getting around because of various aches and pains in their legs.  This problem had lingered since the first tramp out in Mt. Aspiring National Park and on the wednesday before St. Patrick's Day I decided to suck it up and go for a run.  Miraculously, that seemed to nearly cure it.   I wouldn't recommend this strategy for everyone but for me it seemed to work.  On Friday, with the car full of gear and my belly full of corned beef, we headed out for Milford Sound.  With a sleepy car owner, I got my first left side of the road driving experience.  It's a little nerve racking at first but you get the hang of it pretty quickly when your life depends on it.  I don't think I've ever thought so hard about a roundabout or right turn in my life, but I was successful and did not crash into anything or anyone.  Andrew drove the rest of the way into the Fiords.  Rain pounded down on the roof of the car as we wound down to the sea through the deep U shaped valleys.  Thanks to the rain, dozens of waterfalls streamed down every cloud shrouded mountain face.   New Zealand had waged a full assault against what we had previously found impressive and the whole experience was unbelievable.  We warmed up with some tea after walking around the Milford sound area for a couple of hours and then headed back to our campsite outside the town of Te Anau.

The next morning we headed over to the Kepler Track for a hike up Mt. Luxamore.  Our pace up the mountain was literally blistering for some of us but we were running out of day light so I think it was necessary.  We made the posted 4.5 hour trip to the hut in 2 hours and caught or breath once we cleared the treeline and had an unobstructed view of the lake and the fjords.  We didn't make it to the summit due to darkness and time constraints (grrr) but managed to see some incredible landscape still.  The trek down the hill was interesting as well.  As the sun set, we were impressed with how far we had actually hiked up.  That night we hunkered down on the beach with a campfire and enjoyed a dinner of cookies, wine, cheese, and baguette under a full moon reflecting off the glass like water.  One of those times you wish you could dial a number and come back to at any time. My good friend Usch summed it up when she said, "What did we do to deserve this?"  I don't know the answer, Usch.  But as long as we're here all we can do is give thanks and make the most of it.   With that, I'm off to class. Love to you all.

Happy Everybody's Irish Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Dunedin!! Although Dunedin is 11,913 miles away from Dublin, the neighborhood St. Patrick's Day festivities would suggest we are in Ireland.  St. Patty's Day is almost as big here as in the U.S. but unfortunately no one has heard of corned beef and cabbage as a holiday tradition.  With the help of google and Mama Bennett, I hope to change that in about 2 hours.  Anyway, moving forward and looking back now....

I had promised a wild weekend filled with interesting foods in my last post and I'm pleased to report my expectations were far exceeded at the Wild Foods Festival this past Friday through Sunday on the west coast of NZ.  Foods I ate included but are not limited to: live huhu grubs, shark, ostrich, tree root, scorpion, cow colostrum, and lamb.  If someone came up to me now and offered me a live grub they just wrastled up out of a log, I would politely decline, but while at the festival you get so caught up in the mindset of trying new and weird things and peer pressure that the grub suddenly seems no worse than my mom forcing me to take a bite of cauliflower.  Since I try to keep this a family friendly site, I'll omit a few details on what it was like to eat a living grub but I will tell you it tasted like crunchy, dirty, water.  Not delicious, but if I had to choose between the grub or plucking my leg hairs, the grub wins by a mile.  The atmosphere at the festival was a blast as well.  The usually  sleepy town of Hokitika was transformed to a buzzing place of music, partying, and people dressed in costumes.  I have fond memories of Ronald McDonald sward fighting with a pirate while waiting in line to get in. Our 16 member group made a strong showing while dressed as dominoes as well.  After the festivities were over, we headed down to the beach to swim and watch the sunset at the end of an uncharacteristically gorgeous day.  At nightfall fires flickered as far as I could see down the beach in either direction as the moonlight reflected off the ocean.
We woke up early and took an alternate route down the west coast of New Zealand and then across through Central Otago.  Never has a car ride felt so much like the destination.  The entirety of the ride weaved in through the mountains and then back out to the coast.  Two hours after we packed up from our campsite on the beach in Hokitika we were hiking our way up to Frans Josef Glacier, New Zealand's biggest.  Then an hour after leaving the glacier we were back overlooking cliffs and sandy beaches*.  Really bizarre.  Probably my favorite time of the weekend came when we were jamming out to Jamiriquai with mountains all around and an emerald lake and trees with leaves changing colors right beside us.  I had several giddy, "I'm in New Zealand!" moments.  The typically 8 hour drive took 14 due to our frequent stops.
This weekend the gang heads out early Friday for a weekend in Fjordland National Park.  More stories to come and love to you all.

*Second picture in the post brought to you by my flatmate Andrew. His superior photography skills and camera captured the scene better than anything I could dish up.

Wild Weekend Ahead

A quick post before what will hopefully be a fun and weird weekend:

The second week of classes have nearly concluded (except for my ecology class where I'll have to borrow someone's notes) and things are starting to get settled in.  Everyone in the neighborhood is starting to get to know everyone else and the rhythm of the school year has replaced the party and randomness of O-Week.  It feels good.  Honestly, last weekend I was a little homesick.  The transition to living in a new place and meeting all new people wasn't as seamless as I had maybe pictured in my mind and it just started to set in that I would be here longer than just a few weeks.  Fortunately with some positive internal coaching, good classes, and a fun weekend ahead I now feel renewed to drink up and enjoy all that New Zealand pours into my little 4 month cup.   Allow me to now break from my vagueness that has dominated this post up till now and tell you where I'm going this weekend.  The destination that we will hopefully be arriving at in a timely fashion is called Hokitika on the west coast where we will be participants in the Wildfoods Festival.   Menu items include Huhu Grubs, Ostrich Burgers, Crickets, and Rabbits (among other things).  I'll let your imagination wander on the rest of the menu.  The 7-8 hour drive with my friends Andrew, Charlotte, and Sarah should be a beauty as well; the drive is probably worth the drive.   Needless to say I'm looking forward to it and will hopefully have pictures and stories to share come Monday.  Until then, have a great rest of the week and weekend.  Today's picture is from the South African Garden in the Dunedin Botanic Gardens on my walk home from Signal Hill Presbyterian Church two Sundays ago.  Love to you all.

Winter Hats and Snow Caps

True to my word, this post is coming at you from the Otago University Central Library.  It's very new, fancy, high tech, and spacious.  The only thing missing is that familiar musk of book glue and dust that I'm so fond of in Iowa State's library.  Since the second to last post (the last one doesn't really count) the first week of classes have come and gone, I climbed a mountain, and the second week of classes (called "papers" here) have started.  For those curious I'm taking an introductory Ecology class,  Physical Geography, Transformations in Developing Countries, and God and Ethics in the Modern World.  I was signed up for a Fundamentals of Dance class but decided to drop it because the work load was more than I was felt up to at the moment and the class was a little too...shall we say "abstract" for what I want to do right now.  However, the session of moving to express my inner animal in the first practical was quite insightful and enjoyable.  I just don't think I'd like to do it for a semester.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to all my classes that I have left, particularly Transformations in Developing Countries and God and Ethics.
     After a pretty low workload last week, I headed out with the tramping (hiking) club to a place near Fjordland  National Park called Paradise, NZ.  A couple tips of advice I would lend to anyone looking at traveling to New Zealand would be to buy clothes in the states and bring warmer clothing than you think you'll need.  I was taken off guard by the outrageous price of hiking pants I had to buy and the average temperature of the weekend that hovered around in the 40's or maybe 50.   When we arrived at the camp, we were met by a persistent downpour and so we tried to squeeze all 70 of us in a shelter.  There's no better way to meet new people than spooning with them on the floor of a shelter.  Waking up, I saw the scenery that had been hidden by the nighttime when we arrived and it was incredible.  Huge, jagged, snow capped mountains surrounded us with waterfalls halfway down the mountain and moss covered trees at the base.  I was able to see all of the above at a closer view throughout my hike.  The hike had been pretty mild until we turned off the trail and up the boulder covered side of the mountain we intended to summit.  At times the terrain was vertical and the only way up was to use to the thick, prickly vegetation that clung to the rocks to pull yourself up.  We had to use similar techniques on the rocks toward the peak which went on for about an hour and a half: an exhausting task for sure but also very worth it.   Only a picture will describe the view closest to its true awesomeness.  We ate a light lunch and headed down after pictures.  It reached about 60 for a time and started to snow, which still has me baffled.  The trip was 10 hours total.  Hopefully, more similar and greater trips ensue. I'll just bring a little bit warmer clothing next time.  For now, I should put this library to good use and get to reading.   For those of you reading this who don't see any pictures,  I will put a couple up later this afternoon.  Love to you all.

Knock, Knock!

Who's there?! Apparently not me since February 24th.  Woops. I'll post tomorrow from the super cool Otago University Library.  Until then I'm going to sleep and leave you with this picture of my friend kyle preparing to extreme iron in North Carolina.  Random? Yes. Awesome? You betcha.