New Zealand: Part 1

Very cold and wet on top of Fox Glacier.


Me and the boys before our hike up the glacier (L to R: Tim, Justin, Nick, Ben)


Franz Josef Glacier. . .You can see Tim and Justin in the foreground.


One of the views on our drive from Christchurch to the glaciers.


Me and Tim posing on top of a big rock.

Hi Everyone!

I have a lot of catching up to do. . .I don't think I can get all of New Zealand in one post, so here is the first of a few installments.

My traveling buddies for this New Zealand adventure were Ben (from Colorado), Nick (Ben's brother who is spending a few weeks traveling with Ben), Tim (from New Hampshire), and Justin (from Kentucky). I'm not sure how I got myself into a situation of traveling with all boys. . .but after 8 days of nothing but smelly socks, burping, and other uncivilized outbursts, I'm ready for some girl time.

We (Ben, Justin and I) left for New Zealand from the Sydney airport at around 3:30 on Saturday, April 11th. The flight went very smoothly and the plane was really nice. It wasn't very full, so Justin and I had a row to ourselves (and Ben had a row completely to himself) and we all had our own personal televisions (I watched Marley & Me. . .definitely not as good as the book). We landed in Christchurch (the south island of New Zealand) around 11:30 pm and got to our hostel a little bit later. Our friend Tim had gotten there earlier in the day and Nick had arrived the day before. Even though it was late, we decided to check out the town a little bit. The town was absolutely insane for how late it was. There were tons of young people out and about and it felt like the city was still very much awake. We found an Irish pub (for some reason we love finding Irish pubs) and sat down to listen to a cover band. We were all pretty beat though, so we headed back to the hostel pretty soon after.

The next day we woke up early and picked up our rental van. It was a big white van with 1 3-person bench in the back. The model of the van was a Vannette, which officially made our van a girl. I wanted to name the van Vanna White (clever, huh?), but the boys completely refused. They preferred to call it Ye Old Van (weird, huh?). So I continued to call it Vanna White throughout the whole trip and they called our little Vanette Ye Old Van (much to my dismay). We then grabbed a little breakfast at McDonald's (it was the only thing open seeing as it was Easter Sunday) and we started driving. Christchurch didn't have much to offer and we wanted to make it to the west coast by night fall.

Our friend Ben fearlessly drove Vanna White through the mountains (he's had lots of practice seeing as he's from Colorado) and did pretty well considering the driver sits on the right side of the car and they drive on the left side of the road. For most of our driving Ben drove, Nick sat in the front, and Tim, Justin and I crammed in the back. Tim gets car sick easily so he always sat in the middle, but he is also a pretty big guy so Justin and I spent more of our time squished up against the windows.

We had to cross Arthur's Pass (a road that goes directly through a large mountain chain) and the scenery was absolutely stunning. We stopped multiple times to take pictures. I literally felt like I was in a Lord of the Rings movie the entire time I was in NZ. It is quite possibly the most beautiful country I have ever seen (I posted some pictures above so you can see what I mean). We stopped at this really neat rock formation along the way and we did a little rock scrambling up some of the larger rocks.

We finally made it to the west coast a little before dusk and we decided to hike out the the Franz Josef Glacier (we were staying near two glaciers that night: Franz Josef and Fox). It was a short hike out to the glacier and it was absolutely amazing to get so close to something that I've only heard about. It was sliding down a mountain and we were able to see the glacier from a huge gorge-like valley surrounded by other mountains. The valley was covered in gray gravel deposits from the glacier and there was a glacier stream carving through it. . .we had heard we could drink the water, but none of us actually tried it. We took a few pictures and then headed to our hostel for the night. We were all starving by this point and it was pretty late, so we decided to eat at one of two restaurants they had in town-- a Texas-inspired roadhouse. We all devoured our burgers and then headed to bed.

On Monday we woke up early (well, early for college students) and got some food at the local convenience store. We were scheduled to do a 9:35 Fox Glacier Hike. The company we went through equipped us with rain gear and cramp-ons (spiky things for our shoes) and they put us all on a bus and drove us to the glacier. We did about an 1 1/2 hike up to the glacier through a rain forest (it was raining a lot. . .typical). Most of it was uphill and we climbed something like 700 steps. We got to drink some fresh glacier water (which was amazing and definitely better than the bottled water companies that claim to use glacier water) and our guide told us a little bit about the glacier. Apparently this glacier has been growing for the past couple years, which really surprised me seeing as how there is a lot of talk about global warming melting the glaciers.

It got really cold as we approached the glacier and we all stopped to put on more layers. Most of our clothes were already soaking from all of the rain, so it ended up being a cold hike on the glacier. We climbed up onto the glacier using steps that two guides had carved out with a pickaxes early that morning. It was absolutely amazing up there. It was a huge sheet of ice with caverns and holes and valleys. Some of the ice was blue because it was so compressed that it acted like a prism and absorbed all of the colors besides blue. It was amazing to see the valley that we had just hiked through and realize that the glacier we were standing on had carved the whole thing out. After about 45 minutes on the glacier, we hiked back down. Along the way our tour guide saw a rock slide a little ways ahead of us. As we got closer to the location, he told us we were to walk quickly past the sight and that he and another guide would monitor the hill and tell us if and when we would need to run. . .not exactly what you want to hear when you are walking by a hill with boulders the size of small cars. Luckily he didn't see any more rock slides and we all made it through unharmed.

When we got back from our hike we were all soaking wet, so we immediately took warm showers and put on dry clothes. I, naturally, was much slower at getting ready than the boys and they never let me forget it. Once I was finally done getting ready we decided to start driving to our next destination. . .Queenstown: The Adventure Capital of the World. Stayed tuned for some good stories!

My Marvelous Monday

So, every Monday I have an 8:30 am lecture and then I am done for the rest of the day. This particular Monday I intended to hole myself up in the library after class to finish some much needed work. However, when I arrived at my 8:30 chemistry lecture, one of my classmates and friends asked me if I'd like to head up to Royal National Park today with him. Hmm. . .fun Australian adventure or the library? Any guesses which one I picked?

My friend Celli (an Aussie) had also invited 3 Dubliners and a Coloradan. Two of these guys live in International House with me so we already knew each other. We hopped into Celli's car and started driving. He took us north of Wollongong through all of the adorable little suburbs. The suburbs sit right on the ocean and the beaches in these towns are absolutely beautiful. Celli told us that as we approach winter it is fairly common to see whales along these beaches because they are migrating. We didn't see any on Monday, but I am definitely going to check these beaches out again.

After a little driving we arrived in Royal National park. It was an absolutely gorgeous park with dense trees and the ocean coming in and out of view. Celli drove us through the park pointing out interesting things and stopping for us to take pictures. I had no idea that the area around Wollongong was so beautiful (called the Illawara region). At last we made it to our final destination-- a little cliff overlooking a lagoon which is "an area of shallow water separated from the sea by low sandy dunes", according to dictionary.com (do you like my use of references?). Celli informed us that we would be
Celli and me looking out at one of the suburbs

jumping off the cliff. (Sidenote: before you freak out Mom, the cliff wasn't too high, Celli had jumped there before, and we checked the depth of the water before we jumped.) I was pretty scared at first, but I finally worked up the nerve to do it. My friend Robyn (one of the Dubliners) held my hand as we jumped because I was a little nervous. But I really had no reason to be afraid because it was absolutely amazing! I jumped one more time and then we swam around in the lagoon for awhile (the calm water was a nice break from the rough ocean waves).

Celli then brought us back to his house in Austinmmer (one of the little suburbs of Wollongong) and we had a little bbq (yes, Aussies actually do have a LOT of bbqs). In Australia a bbq consists of sausages (pretty much like breakfast sausages) and bread (not buns). Australians believe that hotdogs should only be cooked over the stove and that sausages are meant for breakfast and bbqs. Although there
The lagoon.

was a lack of hotdogs, the bbq was lovely and we were able to see a variety of colorful birds eating from his birdfeeders. Seeing a rainbow colored parrot on these feeders is as common as seeing a crow in your backyard in the states. Celli wasn't too excited about them, but the rest of us grabbed our cameras and went crazy taking pictures.

I had to back in Wollongong by 3:30 for SCARF (an African refugee volunteer program). I am tutoring primary school kids and this was my first session. We jumped on the train (nearly missing it!) and I met my friend Lydia to walk to the SCARF office. We worked with 2 brothers and a sister for an hour and it was a lot of fun. The kids are recent immigrants from Africa and are therefore far behind their classmates. They were really sweet kids and we will be working with them each week.


One of the colorful parrots.

**Sorry that the labels for the pictures are all out-of-whack. I'm not sure how to do this quite yet. The italicized words describe the pictures for those of you who are confused. . .

I'm a little bit country. . .

My "parents" for the weekend on top of Bushranger's Hill
Darren and I on top of one of the many large rocks on their property
Rolling some sushi!!

Petting Ume with Io and Darren.
Hello Folks,

I just arrived back in Wollongong from a very pleasant weekend in the country. My study abroad group sent us on a country life weekend in a little town about 4 hours west called Bathurst. We left Friday afternoon, drove for a few hours and then met up with our host families. I ended up staying with two guys from my study abroad group with the sweetest family ever. The parents were youngish (well, at least young in spirit) and they had one 18 year old son. They welcomed us that night with a delicious Thai meal (the mom was a phenomenal cook) and we all just sat around and chatted for most of the evening. David and Kerry (the parents) have traveled all over the world and had some very interesting stories to tell. They were very worldly and told us all about their adventures.

They also had the most beautiful house. They converted their old sheering shed into their living room/kitchen area. It still had a tin roof and they left a lot of the sheering equipment inside of it. It had one huge window that looked over the rolling country hills of Bathurst.

We finally hit the hay around midnight and I had one of the most restful sleeps I've had since being in Australia. The next morning we woke up and they took us for a hike around their farmland and their neighbor's. It was a beautiful hike, but the most amazing thing was that there were kangaroos everywhere! Every 20 minutes or so we would come across a small herd of them (5-10); they would sit and watch us for awhile and then they would hop away. I felt like I was in some sort of fantasy world. . .it was unbelievable. We also searched for koalas, but were unable to find any up in the eucalyptus trees. Kerry and David have a pet Emu (name Ume) and were able to pet him and take some pictures.

After our hike we headed off to Morgan's (the son) school to watch him play rugby. It was the first live rugby game I've seen and it was just as violent as I imagined. Just picture football without the pads. . .scary. His team ended up winning and I think I actually started to understand the game.

We headed home for a late lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon cooking. Kerry taught us how to make sushi and we also made some appetizers for dinner that night (bruschetta and Indian chicken). I had never made sushi before, but it was actually quite easy (Kelsey- think spring rolls only easier and tastier).

For dinner we went to their neighbor's farm who were also hosting students. We ate our delicious appetizers and they made us homemade pizza, which was delicious. We had another relaxing evening talking to the students and the children of our host families.

Sunday morning we went for another early morning hike. This one was to the top of the Bushranger's hill (so named because a gang of Bushrangers used to hide out there) and we got to see Bathurst and the surrounding areas from a new perspective. The view was absolutely stunning and it made me think that country life might not be so bad afterall. We had to catch the bus at noon, so we went home to pack up. Before dropping us off they took us to the famous car racing track in town and we also stopped by a motocross race.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend. I forgot how much I missed the comforts of home. Of course this family could never replace my family, but it was still nice to have a home for a weekend.

I just have one more week of class before Easter break when I head off to New Zealand!

Cheers!

Kiama and the Lower Gong

This past week was fairly uneventful with a few days of class and then a few rainy days which kept us from the beach. I gave my presentation on Wednesday and it went off without any huge guffaws. I did have one embarrassing moment this week though. . .I had a tutorial at 10:30 am on Wednesday morning. This tutorial has about 20 other students in it and the Tutor for the course is a fairly intimadating woman from Eastern Europe. I arrived to the class at exactly 10:30 and opened the door to go in. As I walked in though, the entire class turned to look at me and gave me (what I thought were) kind of judgmental leers. It almost felt like they had just finished talking about how tardiness was unacceptable and all tardy people should be ostracized (although, I must point out that I was NOT late). Anyway, I got a little flustered and wasn't thinking clearly and I ended up just turning around and leaving. . .Now this isn't the end of the world because attendance isn't compulsory and I had already turned in my assignment for the day electronically. But it is still quite embarrassing because everyone in that room knew that I was supposed to be in that class and they all witnessed me come in and then just turn around and leave again. I'm not sure how I will show my face in that class next week. . .

That night (Wednesday) some friends and I played trivia at our local pub. It was a team effort, but lots of the questions required an intimate knowledge of Australia. . .seeing as we only had one Aussie with us, we did not fair too well. It was still a very enjoyable night though.

Thursday nights we have an event each week at International House called "Global Visions". We usually have speakers or discussions about current global issues. This week some different members of I-House talked about their home countries and the current issues. We heard about Hong Kong and Ireland and I learned lots of things that I did not know. For example, did you know that until 11 years ago Hong Kong was controlled by the British? China reacquired Hong Kong in 1997 (I think) and now it is slowly being blended back into China, but they will maintain quite a bit of sovereignty for another 40 years.

Today (Saturday) it was time for another adventure. Seven friends and I jumped on a 10:23 am train to Kiama, a small town about an hour south of Wollongong. Kiama has multiple beaches that are absolutely gorgeous. We saw a lot of surfers out there, so we will probably head back another weekend with our surfboards. In Kiama, they have a big produce market the last Saturday of every month. Once we arrived we checked out the market, which was quaint, but full of good free samples. Kiama is also well-known for its "blow-hole". The blow-hole is a hole in a large rock formation along the ocean that erupts with water when large waves hit the rock. It almost looked like a geyser. We spent some time taking pictures of the blow-hole and then did a little rock scrambling on some of the cliffs.

After walking around the town for a little longer we hopped on the train again and headed south another 15 minutes to Gerringong. Gerringong is a tiny, tiny town, but we wanted to check it out because we heard it had a very nice winery. Once we arrived in Gerringong, we asked for directions and found that the winery was at the top of a 400 meter long hill. So, we began hiking. We made it up to the top and did some free wine tasting. . .they make all of their wines right on site. We all felt very classy and cultured as we sipped on our wines and pretended to know what we were doing. It was around 3 pm by the time we were done and we decided we wanted to catch the 3:08 train back to Wollongong because the next train did not come in until 5:08. We began hustling back down the hill and right as we entered the town again, the train pulled up. At this point we were at least 100 m away from the platform and so we began sprinting-- backpacks, purses, flip-flops and all. Right as we arrived at the platform the train began to pull away. . .we were all defeated and upset, but luckily the conductor saw us and stopped the train for us. I forgot to mention that only 5 of us had sprinted to the train-- the other 3 were lolly-gagging aways behind us. So, the 5 of us just hopped on the train and it left without them! The 3 boys we left behind were convinced that we would all miss the train, so they just didn't even try. It's 5:04 right now, so they will be getting on the train in just a few minutes. . .Hopefully they enjoyed their afternoon in Gerringong.

One more thing. . .Gerringong is sometimes referred to as the "Lower Gong" making Wollongong the "Upper Gong". . .only in Australia.

Ready, AIME, Fire

This weekend we took a break from grand adventures and hung around good ol' Wollongong. We spent some time at the beach, tried to study, and celebrated a friend's birthday. On Sunday I went to an all-day training session for a mentoring program called AIME (Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience). Australia has a very ancient indigenous population which is said to be the oldest cultural group in the world. These aboriginals face a lot of the same problems that Native Americans face in the US. They are lagging far behind other Australians in regards to health, education, and income. Although they only make up around 2% of the population, they account for about 20% of incacerated people. The reasons for these short-fallings are a source of much debate and disagreement. However, what is indisputable is that indigenous students need help so that they can get the education they need to be successful. That's where AIME comes in. It's a program in which Uni students volunteer to mentor, tutor, and build relationships with indigenous middle and high school students. I thought it seemed like a valuable program and a good way to spend 1 hour a week, so I signed up. I was disappointed to learn that the program doesn't start until May 1st and therefore I won't be able to spend much time tutoring, but I am still very excited for the program.

After the 6 hour training session I was pretty burned out, but it was one of my good friend's. . .so I headed to the grocery store to buy some cake. We went to a local Thai restaurant for dinner (there are about 1 million Thai restaurants within a 2 mile radius of our dorm) called Coconut Thai. I ordered Tofu Pad Thai and it was delicious. Lots of my friends ordered their meals with kangaroo. . .I tried a little bit and it actually wasn't that bad! People described it as a "gamey" meat similar to elk. It is quite strange because the Australians celebrate their native animals, like kangaroos and emus, but they also eat them. However, my Aussie friends inform me that it's really only tourists who actually eat things like kangaroo. After a very satisfying dinner we went to one of the local pubs and listened to the live band that was performing there. All in all, it was a very nice evening.

Today the sun is shining, but I have to catch up on some of the homework that I put off all weekend. I have my first presentation this week, which I would be freaking out about back home, but presentations here are pretty laid back. I'm not too worried about it, but I still need to do some work on it!

I hope all is well and that everyone is enjoying the milder weather!

Bumps, bruises, and burials

Hello my cold-weather friends,

This morning all of the Aussies I encountered claimed that it was "cold" outside. I had trouble comprehending this because the sun was shining and it was still warm enough to be comfortable in shorts. A guy in one of my classes was actually wearing a scarf! I would like to see them try and survive Minnesota in March.

Course work is beginning to pick up and I am really enjoying the history course I am taking about the post-Cold War period. However, it is difficult to force myself to study when the sun is shining and the beach is only a 10-minute walk away.

I have been doing a little surfing everyday since we bought our board. I hate to admit it, but I am actually getting worse! Each time I get out of the water I have a new bruise or scratch to add to my already battered body. But I am still absolutely loving it! It's such a great way to get out and enjoy the ocean and every once in a while when I am able to stand for a second or two-- it's brilliant. I am going to keep chugging along because I definitely cannot get any worse at this point. . .

On Saturday, I had a brief lapse in judgment and I agreed to allow 3 of my guy friends bury me in the sand. I was completely covered head to toe and was incapable of moving (luckily I could still breathe!). After they had all had their fun and had taken numerous incriminating pictures. . .they forced me to crawl out myself (typical boys)! It took me a good five minutes to get my arms unburied and then I had to dig my body out as well. They all stood around and had a good laugh as I emerged from the sand covered head to toe in a fine layer of sand. . .needless to say I have learned my lesson!

Today we decided to check out one of the local thrift shops where it was rumored that there were $5 wet suits. We had a gay-old time trying to squeeze our bodies into impossibly small wet suits, but almost all of us managed to find one that actually fit. I walked away with a beautiful red and blue wet suit (circa 1980) for only $8. I am confident that I will be the chicest surfer at the beach. . .

This weekend some friends and I are contemplating a trip down south. We want to check out some of the towns south of Wollongong since we have only been north at this point. There is a nice little town called Batemans Bay where we might actually be able to see kangaroos and other native animals. . .I'm sure I will have many stories to tell if we actually make it down there!

Riding the Waves

I made a command decision yesterday. I decided that I wanted to get a surfboard, so my friend and I went on a little shopping adventure today. We were able to find a relatively cheap, used surfboard at a local shop. The shop is willing to buy the board back at the end of the semester for half-price. Two of my friends and I are sharing the board which makes the board a very cheap, but hopefully fun, investment.

I tried to surf a little bit today and actually had some success. The waves, however, were not very good and I spent a lot of time trying to hold onto my board and stay standing. I am pretty excited to have a new goal to accomplish while down here. Hopefully I will be a pro by the time I head home in July!

I also bought a plane ticket to New Zealand yesterday, which is where I will be spending my spring break. I will be flying into Christchurch with 2 or 3 friends and from there we will see some glaciers, bungee jump (them, not me!) and try to see as much of the country as possible. I have heard the New Zealand is absolutely beautiful, so I am really looking forward to this trip.

One last thing. . .I signed up to run a half-marathon in May. One of my friends here is a cross-country runner and asked me to run the race with him (I made sure he knew that I would be miles behind him the whole race). It will be my first half-marathon, so I am trying to get myself in shape to avoid making a complete fool out of myself!