Soooo this is a really long time in the coming – I do apologize! There is just so much going on that Carie can’t get me to sit still long enough to write anything for the blog. Thank you to all who harassed me : )
About spring break – it was crazy! To begin, I had an essay due the week of break (what???) that I frantically finished the night before our big trip began, so I only got three hours of sleep…when in New Zealand, right? But that’s ok – we were only chilling in the car for the day. As Carie mentioned, she got up early to see us off and Dale, PT, Alex, Matt, Nora and I piled into our ghetto van and hit the road. We made it all the way to Te Anau that first day, past Queenstown – the whole drive was about 7-8 hours I believe. We stayed in a hostel for the first night and all crashed hard. It didn’t help that a violent hurricane/storm/cyclone was raging outside our window. Alex made the comment “So, the trail is going to be a little bit muddy tomorrow…” and we all went back to sleep.
The next day we woke and went to the NZ DOC (dept. of conservation) to see about the Kepler Track that we were about to do – 3 nights and 4 days of tramping with beautiful views! When we got there we were informed that we couldn’t do more than a day of the track because of avalanche danger, so we decided to do the first leg of the track to Luxmore Hut. Trust this first leg to include ALL of the incline needed to reach the top of the mountain for the rest of the track. I don’t know how Matt, PT and Nora did it but somehow they convinced me to keep going. Alex and Dale had raged on ahead, of course, and were at the hut an hour and a half before us. But what a great hut! It was 56 bunks, probably one of the largest in New Zealand, and we had it all to ourselves. That first night and every night after we played poker in the dark with trail mix for chips – it was great!
After a pretty decent night’s sleep (not so much for the boys who stayed in a drafty room) we all got up and hiked to some caves that were nearby and descended into them for a pretty long ways. This involved lots of kneeling and squinching – it didn’t help that there was a sizeable creek of snow melt running down the length of the cave. Post-caving we booked it back to the car then had to decide on what to do with all this time we now had. We opted for driving to Milford Sound, about three hours away. Just before Milford we had to drive on roads that were constantly covered/shoveled because of avalanches – this was a little nerve-wracking. We literally stopped for a bathroom break at Milford then drove back up the road (there’s only one way in and out) to the Routeburn Track. We hiked for about an hour (in the wet dark, btw) to a hut because it was close to the road. We woke the next morning and there was snow everywhere! On the way back to the van we went up to the summit – on the way up there was enough blue sky to see the surrounding mountains, which were awesome, but lucky for us, when we got to the top there was not a patch of blue sky in sight and clouds covered every mountain peak. Win.
A little dejected we got out of that mess and hit up a microbrewery where everyone was happy to have warm stomachs for a few minutes : ) After this we drove more (another 3ish hours) to Mt. Cook, thinking there was a hut we could stay in there, according to the nice lady at the local DOC. Well, she was utterly wrong. We found that the huts there were private, so instead we went to Mt. Cook Village to check on the hostel situation - $30 a person for a night. We were all way to cheap to pay that, so instead we went for the option of sleeping in a covered picnic shelter (which had running water) on picnic tables for the night. I think we all got about 2-3 hours of sleep – it certainly did not help that snow blew in every once in a while to land in our faces. But oh well – we all had the chance to do a Tim Tam Slam the night before. I was pretty happy.
We woke to crummy, rainy weather outside, and like idiots decided to tramp a bit to see the nearby glacier. By the time we got there we were soaked to the core, even under ‘waterproof’ clothing and such. This didn’t stop us, though, from walking another hour and a half to a few suspension bridges in Hooker Valley. Hail, sleet and snow greeted us on this little sidetrip, and possibly some of the coldest, strongest wind I’ve ever encountered. We made it out, though, and headed for Mt. Somers after calling and confirming that the weather was bright and sunny.
A couple of hours later we arrived at Mt. Somers, this time dropping off Dale and Alex at one end of the track. PT, Matt, Nora and I slept in a different hut that night, intending to meet Dale and Alex sometime in the middle of the next day and hand off the keys as we passed them. After almost being blown off the mountainside (stronger winds than at Mt. Cook? I don’t know…) we arrived at our hut, which was practically brand new. We went to bed around 9:30 and at 11 woke to the sounds of people outside. That’s right – about 40 people showed up after at least a few hours hiking in the dark. Some set up tents, some came inside, but the really crazy ones slept in their sleeping bags on the cold ground. Nuts!!!
The next morning we got up early and hiked to the saddle of the mountain, around where Dale and Alex stole the keys from PT. We hiked for a while and then found an awesome waterfall where we stopped for about 20 minutes, knowing that the boys would have to wait a bit for us at the end : ) We continued on the trail that was winding up and down, over and under crazy roots. We had a few close calls but no one seriously wiped out. By the end, though, all our legs were trembling from fatigue. I swear my muscles were sore for at least 3-4 days after our trip. The experience was awesome, though, and a great way to spend 6 days! That night we returned to Carie, our guardian angel, who made dinner for us all. It was spectacular! Thanks Care Bear : )
Monday, September 28, 2009
My Kind of Weekend
Hey everyone!
I had a pretty sweet weekend, so I thought I’d write about it, since I’m already sitting at my computer, having a sing-along with Coldplay and no doubt annoying Sina. In my defense though, at least it isn’t ELO. Anyway, some friends and I had been talking about going paintballing for awhile now, and on Friday we finally did! PT’s friend Dan set it up, and because it was a dismal rainy day, Nora and I ended up being the only ones going from our group. The paintball place Dan chose has a World War II theme. They divided the 21 of us into a team of 9 Americans (actual Americans + some Kiwis), and the other team had 12 Germans. I’m not sure how the teams got distributed so catty-wampus, but oh well. The first game was D-Day, and we had to charge the “beach” from the “landing craft,” and so on. We played 7 games like that, and then for the final game, we took turns sniping each other. It was hilarious. Nora was wounded worse than I was; I didn’t get hit as much because of my characteristic cowardly MO of taking shots from behind trees. Know how usually in the States the paintball refs say you have to demand surrender at a certain point rather than shoot someone from five feet away? Kiwis have no such rule. I got shot twice from like three feet away. Ouchies. Nothing like that yellow paintball bruise Rachel had for six weeks last spring, but it still hurts.
On Saturday, the sun finally came out after a week of rain, so Nora and I went to the park! We walked to the Botanic Gardens and all the way into town. We both took a ton pictures—after deleting the bad ones, I still have 70 or so of pretty flowers and such. We accidentally wandered onto Hereford Street, so naturally we had to go to the Coffee House. It’s tradition now.
DST started in New Zealand yesterday, so now we’re 17 hours ahead of the East Coast. We went whitewater rafting for our final Butler event yesterday, and the general consensus was that the morning we spring forward is a terrible day to get up for an event. Pete said that Kate requiring us to be up so early was like breaking up with someone on their birthday. I love Pete’s words of wisdom. Actually I was kind of excited, because Shelby, the Butler rep who took all of my panicked phone calls with study abroad questions last semester was joining us! She’s spending 2 or 3 weeks in New Zealand and Australia. She made the 2-hour bus ride to the Rangitata River even better because oh-my-goodness she brought Reese’s. Guess what, New Zealand does not have those. Kiwi candies, or lollies, are way too sugary and fruity for me. So if you feel inclined to send me a present (you know you want to), send Reese’s. Rachel’s mom already sent her some—thanks Beth : )
So, rafting was sweet as. It was pretty chilly, but they dressed us in thermals and wetsuits. It was my first time in a wetsuit, and I personally did not care for it. I looked and felt like a penguin. We divided up into four rafts. The bros got their own of course, and my raft consisted of Katie, Briana, Nora, Jas, and me. Our guide was a Kiwi named Bob, and he was delightfully inappropriate with his stories and comments. We loved him. One of the awesome things about sharing a raft with a bunch of girls (and Bob) was the freedom to SCREAM all the way through the rapids. Not in a terrified way, more in a celebratory way. We had rapids ranging from Class IIs to Vs. Super cool. I managed not to fall out of the raft, but I did fall into it a lot. Oops. Speaking of dysfunction, I was also too scared to jump off a 9-meter rock into the river. I made the mistake of looking over the edge first and then there was no way. I probably would have drowned anyway. You try swimming in such an ill-fitting wetsuit. I looked like a reflection in a funhouse mirror.
On the way home, I introduced Kate to Blue-Collar Comedy. I’m not sure whether it helped or hurt her already dim view of Americans. Warmed my heart, of course, but that’s because I miss the South so much. Today we started our fourth week of classes, so we’re ¾ of the way done with them! Bahaha it’s so exciting.
Keep the letters coming. We miss everyone!
love-
Carie and Rachel
I had a pretty sweet weekend, so I thought I’d write about it, since I’m already sitting at my computer, having a sing-along with Coldplay and no doubt annoying Sina. In my defense though, at least it isn’t ELO. Anyway, some friends and I had been talking about going paintballing for awhile now, and on Friday we finally did! PT’s friend Dan set it up, and because it was a dismal rainy day, Nora and I ended up being the only ones going from our group. The paintball place Dan chose has a World War II theme. They divided the 21 of us into a team of 9 Americans (actual Americans + some Kiwis), and the other team had 12 Germans. I’m not sure how the teams got distributed so catty-wampus, but oh well. The first game was D-Day, and we had to charge the “beach” from the “landing craft,” and so on. We played 7 games like that, and then for the final game, we took turns sniping each other. It was hilarious. Nora was wounded worse than I was; I didn’t get hit as much because of my characteristic cowardly MO of taking shots from behind trees. Know how usually in the States the paintball refs say you have to demand surrender at a certain point rather than shoot someone from five feet away? Kiwis have no such rule. I got shot twice from like three feet away. Ouchies. Nothing like that yellow paintball bruise Rachel had for six weeks last spring, but it still hurts.
On Saturday, the sun finally came out after a week of rain, so Nora and I went to the park! We walked to the Botanic Gardens and all the way into town. We both took a ton pictures—after deleting the bad ones, I still have 70 or so of pretty flowers and such. We accidentally wandered onto Hereford Street, so naturally we had to go to the Coffee House. It’s tradition now.
DST started in New Zealand yesterday, so now we’re 17 hours ahead of the East Coast. We went whitewater rafting for our final Butler event yesterday, and the general consensus was that the morning we spring forward is a terrible day to get up for an event. Pete said that Kate requiring us to be up so early was like breaking up with someone on their birthday. I love Pete’s words of wisdom. Actually I was kind of excited, because Shelby, the Butler rep who took all of my panicked phone calls with study abroad questions last semester was joining us! She’s spending 2 or 3 weeks in New Zealand and Australia. She made the 2-hour bus ride to the Rangitata River even better because oh-my-goodness she brought Reese’s. Guess what, New Zealand does not have those. Kiwi candies, or lollies, are way too sugary and fruity for me. So if you feel inclined to send me a present (you know you want to), send Reese’s. Rachel’s mom already sent her some—thanks Beth : )
So, rafting was sweet as. It was pretty chilly, but they dressed us in thermals and wetsuits. It was my first time in a wetsuit, and I personally did not care for it. I looked and felt like a penguin. We divided up into four rafts. The bros got their own of course, and my raft consisted of Katie, Briana, Nora, Jas, and me. Our guide was a Kiwi named Bob, and he was delightfully inappropriate with his stories and comments. We loved him. One of the awesome things about sharing a raft with a bunch of girls (and Bob) was the freedom to SCREAM all the way through the rapids. Not in a terrified way, more in a celebratory way. We had rapids ranging from Class IIs to Vs. Super cool. I managed not to fall out of the raft, but I did fall into it a lot. Oops. Speaking of dysfunction, I was also too scared to jump off a 9-meter rock into the river. I made the mistake of looking over the edge first and then there was no way. I probably would have drowned anyway. You try swimming in such an ill-fitting wetsuit. I looked like a reflection in a funhouse mirror.
On the way home, I introduced Kate to Blue-Collar Comedy. I’m not sure whether it helped or hurt her already dim view of Americans. Warmed my heart, of course, but that’s because I miss the South so much. Today we started our fourth week of classes, so we’re ¾ of the way done with them! Bahaha it’s so exciting.
Keep the letters coming. We miss everyone!
love-
Carie and Rachel
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Sexy Weekend (On the Farm)
Guess what guys. I finally went to the sheep farm. It was sweet as!
The farm, Glenmac, is a little ways outside the town of Oamaru, which is a few hours south of CHCH. We left on Friday afternoon, and on the bus, Alex decided to nickname our farm stay Sexy Weekend. Because he’s Alex. In Oamaru we met up with our fourth person, a girl named Ellen from the University of Otago in Dunedin. She is super cool! Ellen is a senior bio major at Butler in IN, and we bonded over music and being domestic. She also is really involved in Young Life so she’s familiar with IV. We were great roommates for the weekend!
A guy named Bruce had driven Ellen up from Dunedin, and he took us the rest of the way to Keith and Kaye’s farm. Bruce works as a shuttle driver along the eastern coast, so he told us a ton of cool stuff on the way to Glenmac. I immediately liked Bruce because he was wearing a hat with his family tartan on it, and I have one of those too! (Our tartan is prettier though. Sorry Bruce.) When we got to Glenmac it was already dark, so we just went ahead and ate dinner, which was amazing. One of the ways that IFSA sells Country Life Weekend is by going on and on about the home-cooked food. I was like whatever, big deal, I can cook my own delicious food. But I’ve been a little homesick, and you cannot underestimate the emotional power of a meal cooked by this sweet lady who’s telling you about her grandkids. Being at uni, I forget that there are families out there and people who sit around on a Friday night talking and drinking coffee with a rugby match on TV. Honestly this was the first cup of coffee I’d had in New Zealand that didn’t have a perfect foam replica of the Eiffel Tower or something on top, so instant coffee or not, it really warmed my heart. (Yes, I got emotional over a cup of coffee. So sue me. Coffee reminds me of my mommy.)
Ellen and I had a fight over who got to wash the dishes and she let me win, and we discovered that Kaye had this sick dishwasher that was in two halves and you could run them separately. Note to self, when I get my own house, I will need one of those. After dinner, we watched some rugby until everyone went to bed, and then the four of us stayed up well past midnight talking and drinking coffee. When we finally did get ready to turn in, I came back from brushing my teeth to a very confused Ellen:
“I had just taken my contacts out, but I think Alex just came in here in his underwear and told us to go look at the stars.”
(See, I told you it was sexy weekend.)
Because the angle of our window only afforded us a great view of some trees, Ellen and I went tiptoeing around the house in search of something better. In the living room, we peeked out the window and caught our breath. Not only were there a ton more stars than we’re used to, they were so bright and twinkly. Being out in the middle of nowhere, night-time means total darkness, especially with the new moon, and we were taken aback by the stars’ intensity.
We weren’t sure what time to be up, because Kaye had just told us “not too early,” but we had no idea what that meant. As a result, the next morning Ellen and I were lying in bed whispering like little kids on Christmas morning, “Do you think we can get up now?” “What do you reckon the boys are doing?” When we did venture out, we found Dale and Alex headed out the door to transport hay with Keith. Ellen and I decided that running outside in our sock feet on the wet grass to take pictures of the farm was a great idea (we are not the brightest). When we had eaten and dressed, we investigated the dog situation. Keith and Kay have at least five sheepdogs that are off limits, but they do have one regular pet dog named Penny, and we played with her while we waited for the menfolk to return. She was too cute! After the boys got back, we rode with them to Keith’s neighbour’s field, where he was storing some hay. We helped load a few loads into the truck, and then stuck around the pasture to take pictures while the guys drove the hay back to Glenmac. I had been excited about finally seeing sheep up close, but let me tell you something, sheep are a letdown. They are really skittish and apparently two girls in our early twenties are downright terrifying. So Ellen and I never got close enough for a decent photo, but I did take a bunch of the landscape while lying in my paintball stance. You get cool shots from ground level!
After such a taxing morning of doing pretty much nothing (ok, the boys had worked), we had last night’s leftovers and some soup for lunch. At this time of year, sheep shearing is over but lambing has yet to begin, so there wasn’t a whole lot for us to do on the farm, which was disappointing. When Kay offered us a choice between a forty-minute ride to watch a sheep-shearing competition and a few hours’ work in a nearby vineyard, we opted for the latter. The thought of voluntarily riding in a car with the prospect of tomorrow’s long bus ride back to CHCH was not appealing. We walked the 3 or so km to the vineyard, and we had to cross a stream. Dale and Alex put rocks into the river for me to step on so I wouldn’t get wet, but I did anyway. Fail.
Three of the other people staying at Glenmac over the weekend were investors in this vineyard. The main one, a man named Wal, was glad to have our help. There were thick plastic sleeves that had been protecting the vines, and Wal had us pull them apart and put them inside each other to save space. When we had finished that, he set us to work on the sleeves still on the vines. After a few hours of this, it was starting getting dark, so Wal loaded us into his truck for a drive around the plateau the vineyard sits on. The scenery is gorgeous in every direction. It’s incredible.
That night, one of the other men visiting Glenmac cooked a dinner of pork in ginger and soy and I don’t know what else but it was fantastic. I was tired and cold, but a hot delicious supper, a glass of Riesling, a shower and a little Norah Jones had me fast asleep in no time. Of course, first we watched the All Blacks absolutely whomp the Wallabies, Australia’s national rugby team (who are running neck and neck with Maryland and Richmond in the Stupidest Mascot Ever contest). It still makes me cry a little inside when I think about missing football season back home, but I really like rugby. It moves a lot faster than football. In rugby the play is continuous; we don’t have to stop and hold a conference every time somebody runs a play. And interceptions are frequent and not a big deal, so as a spectator it really cuts down on all the times I have to curse Riley Skinner during a game. Anyway, at 4 am Alex woke Ellen and me up to go outside and look at the stars again. We found a few familiar constellations, like Orion and the Southern Cross. It was super cool. After a mug of hot chocolate, we called it a night again.
In the morning, we packed up and Keith drove us up a hill so we could see how beautiful Oamaru is, wherever you look. It was amazing. We took a ton of pictures. Back at the farm, we said goodbye to Kaye and Keith and set off with Bruce. He stopped so we could check out some huge rocks on the way into town—first the Elephant Rocks and then the whale fossils. Bruce said that part of Narnia was filmed in the whale fossil place! Alex, Dale and Ellen are all into science, whereas my knowledge ends somewhere in Biology 101 with me falling asleep in class. So while they were looking at the cool rocks and plants and making intelligent remarks, I was contemplating the fact that the James McAvoy’s lingering presence made sexy weekend much sexier, Mr. Tumnus or not.
Ellen’s bus left at noon so we had to drop her off first, which was a bummer. Our own bus wasn’t coming til three, so Bruce took us to the beach to see the Moeraki boulders. Dale and Alex were super excited about them because apparently they’re alive and growing, or something, whatever. Instead of trying to understand, I found some cool shells on the beach. Bruce made fun of me because I thought it would be a good idea to pull a Briana Lane and throw myself down in the sand. Unfortunately the sand was quite wet (surprise, we were on a beach) and I got soaked. But the pictures I got in my paintball stance are sweet as, so it was worth it. (Rachel’s teaching me how to take better photos, but I’m a bit of a lost cause because having lost the instruction book, I know absolutely nothing about my little Nikon except that Ashton Kutcher advertises them.) So after the beach, Bruce took us on a drive through historic Oamaru, which was really interesting. Bruce knows his stuff. He put us on a double-decker bus to CHCH by 3, and I slept all the way home. It was lovely.
Coincidentally, Wal lives in CHCH and drives down to Oamaru to work on his vineyard every weekend. I got his number and I’m planning to go back with him sometime next month. I think Keith and Kaye just like having people around, because they jumped at having me over again. So I’m excited about that!
Y’all need to be more aggressive with Rachel, telling her to post on the blog. She has all these adventures without me and then she doesn’t write about them. Do not stand for this, people!
a whole lot of love-
Carie Mac
The farm, Glenmac, is a little ways outside the town of Oamaru, which is a few hours south of CHCH. We left on Friday afternoon, and on the bus, Alex decided to nickname our farm stay Sexy Weekend. Because he’s Alex. In Oamaru we met up with our fourth person, a girl named Ellen from the University of Otago in Dunedin. She is super cool! Ellen is a senior bio major at Butler in IN, and we bonded over music and being domestic. She also is really involved in Young Life so she’s familiar with IV. We were great roommates for the weekend!
A guy named Bruce had driven Ellen up from Dunedin, and he took us the rest of the way to Keith and Kaye’s farm. Bruce works as a shuttle driver along the eastern coast, so he told us a ton of cool stuff on the way to Glenmac. I immediately liked Bruce because he was wearing a hat with his family tartan on it, and I have one of those too! (Our tartan is prettier though. Sorry Bruce.) When we got to Glenmac it was already dark, so we just went ahead and ate dinner, which was amazing. One of the ways that IFSA sells Country Life Weekend is by going on and on about the home-cooked food. I was like whatever, big deal, I can cook my own delicious food. But I’ve been a little homesick, and you cannot underestimate the emotional power of a meal cooked by this sweet lady who’s telling you about her grandkids. Being at uni, I forget that there are families out there and people who sit around on a Friday night talking and drinking coffee with a rugby match on TV. Honestly this was the first cup of coffee I’d had in New Zealand that didn’t have a perfect foam replica of the Eiffel Tower or something on top, so instant coffee or not, it really warmed my heart. (Yes, I got emotional over a cup of coffee. So sue me. Coffee reminds me of my mommy.)
Ellen and I had a fight over who got to wash the dishes and she let me win, and we discovered that Kaye had this sick dishwasher that was in two halves and you could run them separately. Note to self, when I get my own house, I will need one of those. After dinner, we watched some rugby until everyone went to bed, and then the four of us stayed up well past midnight talking and drinking coffee. When we finally did get ready to turn in, I came back from brushing my teeth to a very confused Ellen:
“I had just taken my contacts out, but I think Alex just came in here in his underwear and told us to go look at the stars.”
(See, I told you it was sexy weekend.)
Because the angle of our window only afforded us a great view of some trees, Ellen and I went tiptoeing around the house in search of something better. In the living room, we peeked out the window and caught our breath. Not only were there a ton more stars than we’re used to, they were so bright and twinkly. Being out in the middle of nowhere, night-time means total darkness, especially with the new moon, and we were taken aback by the stars’ intensity.
We weren’t sure what time to be up, because Kaye had just told us “not too early,” but we had no idea what that meant. As a result, the next morning Ellen and I were lying in bed whispering like little kids on Christmas morning, “Do you think we can get up now?” “What do you reckon the boys are doing?” When we did venture out, we found Dale and Alex headed out the door to transport hay with Keith. Ellen and I decided that running outside in our sock feet on the wet grass to take pictures of the farm was a great idea (we are not the brightest). When we had eaten and dressed, we investigated the dog situation. Keith and Kay have at least five sheepdogs that are off limits, but they do have one regular pet dog named Penny, and we played with her while we waited for the menfolk to return. She was too cute! After the boys got back, we rode with them to Keith’s neighbour’s field, where he was storing some hay. We helped load a few loads into the truck, and then stuck around the pasture to take pictures while the guys drove the hay back to Glenmac. I had been excited about finally seeing sheep up close, but let me tell you something, sheep are a letdown. They are really skittish and apparently two girls in our early twenties are downright terrifying. So Ellen and I never got close enough for a decent photo, but I did take a bunch of the landscape while lying in my paintball stance. You get cool shots from ground level!
After such a taxing morning of doing pretty much nothing (ok, the boys had worked), we had last night’s leftovers and some soup for lunch. At this time of year, sheep shearing is over but lambing has yet to begin, so there wasn’t a whole lot for us to do on the farm, which was disappointing. When Kay offered us a choice between a forty-minute ride to watch a sheep-shearing competition and a few hours’ work in a nearby vineyard, we opted for the latter. The thought of voluntarily riding in a car with the prospect of tomorrow’s long bus ride back to CHCH was not appealing. We walked the 3 or so km to the vineyard, and we had to cross a stream. Dale and Alex put rocks into the river for me to step on so I wouldn’t get wet, but I did anyway. Fail.
Three of the other people staying at Glenmac over the weekend were investors in this vineyard. The main one, a man named Wal, was glad to have our help. There were thick plastic sleeves that had been protecting the vines, and Wal had us pull them apart and put them inside each other to save space. When we had finished that, he set us to work on the sleeves still on the vines. After a few hours of this, it was starting getting dark, so Wal loaded us into his truck for a drive around the plateau the vineyard sits on. The scenery is gorgeous in every direction. It’s incredible.
That night, one of the other men visiting Glenmac cooked a dinner of pork in ginger and soy and I don’t know what else but it was fantastic. I was tired and cold, but a hot delicious supper, a glass of Riesling, a shower and a little Norah Jones had me fast asleep in no time. Of course, first we watched the All Blacks absolutely whomp the Wallabies, Australia’s national rugby team (who are running neck and neck with Maryland and Richmond in the Stupidest Mascot Ever contest). It still makes me cry a little inside when I think about missing football season back home, but I really like rugby. It moves a lot faster than football. In rugby the play is continuous; we don’t have to stop and hold a conference every time somebody runs a play. And interceptions are frequent and not a big deal, so as a spectator it really cuts down on all the times I have to curse Riley Skinner during a game. Anyway, at 4 am Alex woke Ellen and me up to go outside and look at the stars again. We found a few familiar constellations, like Orion and the Southern Cross. It was super cool. After a mug of hot chocolate, we called it a night again.
In the morning, we packed up and Keith drove us up a hill so we could see how beautiful Oamaru is, wherever you look. It was amazing. We took a ton of pictures. Back at the farm, we said goodbye to Kaye and Keith and set off with Bruce. He stopped so we could check out some huge rocks on the way into town—first the Elephant Rocks and then the whale fossils. Bruce said that part of Narnia was filmed in the whale fossil place! Alex, Dale and Ellen are all into science, whereas my knowledge ends somewhere in Biology 101 with me falling asleep in class. So while they were looking at the cool rocks and plants and making intelligent remarks, I was contemplating the fact that the James McAvoy’s lingering presence made sexy weekend much sexier, Mr. Tumnus or not.
Ellen’s bus left at noon so we had to drop her off first, which was a bummer. Our own bus wasn’t coming til three, so Bruce took us to the beach to see the Moeraki boulders. Dale and Alex were super excited about them because apparently they’re alive and growing, or something, whatever. Instead of trying to understand, I found some cool shells on the beach. Bruce made fun of me because I thought it would be a good idea to pull a Briana Lane and throw myself down in the sand. Unfortunately the sand was quite wet (surprise, we were on a beach) and I got soaked. But the pictures I got in my paintball stance are sweet as, so it was worth it. (Rachel’s teaching me how to take better photos, but I’m a bit of a lost cause because having lost the instruction book, I know absolutely nothing about my little Nikon except that Ashton Kutcher advertises them.) So after the beach, Bruce took us on a drive through historic Oamaru, which was really interesting. Bruce knows his stuff. He put us on a double-decker bus to CHCH by 3, and I slept all the way home. It was lovely.
Coincidentally, Wal lives in CHCH and drives down to Oamaru to work on his vineyard every weekend. I got his number and I’m planning to go back with him sometime next month. I think Keith and Kaye just like having people around, because they jumped at having me over again. So I’m excited about that!
Y’all need to be more aggressive with Rachel, telling her to post on the blog. She has all these adventures without me and then she doesn’t write about them. Do not stand for this, people!
a whole lot of love-
Carie Mac
Monday, September 7, 2009
Spring Break Part Deux
Hey everyone!
I’m so excited to finally have news about my life in NZ—the second week of spring break was much more interesting than the first. The trampers came back Saturday afternoon, and they had their rental van for one more day, so we went on an adventure. We had lunch and beer samples at a brewery called Brew Moon, and further on up the road was Waipara Springs Winery, where we sampled maybe five wines. It was such a beautiful day to sit outside, be with friends and contemplate the characteristics of wine. I’m getting so educated in this country. Later that afternoon, Rachel’s dad flew in for a visit. He was in Sydney on business and it’s only a three-hour flight to Christchurch, so he stayed here for a few days. Bill is an excellent example of why I love it when other people’s parents come visit them: they buy stuff for everyone. Sunday night we went to a pub quiz and Bill treated us to dinner and drinks. (Disclaimer: it’s not normal for me to drink so much in a day, ok. Don’t judge.) We didn’t win the pub quiz—not even close—but it was really fun. There was one round where we had to match the pictures of dinosaurs to their names, which I dominated thanks to Scott’s childhood obsession. Okay, actually Matt dominated. I’m sure he went through his own dinosaur phase as a kid. However, had he not been there, I would have been the dinosaur champion.
Bill had rented a car, and on Monday he took Matt, Rachel and me to Akaroa, which is a historic French settlement on Banks Peninsula, further out than Diamond Harbour. It was so gorgeous! We walked around for a few hours and I took too many pictures, which may eventually reach the blog. But seeing as how my computer is probably lost somewhere in the wilds of New Zealand on its way to Auckland for the second time, don’t hold your breath. They are up on Facebook though.
The best part of break was the ROAD TRIP WITH RACHEL AND BRIANA! We drove around the northern coast of the south island and it was so much fun. I just want to point out two good things about road tripping with girls: no one cares that we stop for a bathroom break every hour, and everyone is totally fine to pull over for photo-ops every ten minutes because the country is too beautiful to be wasted. We left on Thursday morning in our rental car, named Milton (we vetoed Norbert), and drove to Kaikoura. We ate lunch there and then went on to Picton, which is a small town that sees a lot of backpackers coming through. We spent the night at a cute hostel called the Villa. We cooked pasta and Briana and I shared a nine-dollar bottle of wine, having made it our goal to find THE cheapest wine at the store. It wasn’t too bad, actually. Also, I should point out that the reason Rachel chose the Villa over other hostels was that they served free apple crumble. Win. We were all asleep by ten. Rachel got this creepy bedspread with a pattern of clown heads. Naturally Bri and I found this hilarious. So we took a picture.
The next morning we went to the shops in Picton and then down to the bay. Since Rachel of course wanted to interact with nature, we drove to Nelson Lakes National Park for a walk in the woods. We stopped for PB&J at a little spot next to the lake, which was gorgeous. We took a ton of pictures. From the park I drove (yes, I drove, and no one died) to the town of Nelson, which is bigger than Picton. We stayed at a sweet as hostel called the Paradiso, which has a pool! I want to go back to Nelson and stay there when the weather is warmer. Also, every time we walked past the reception desk, the radio was playing Bad Company or Journey or something. You can’t go wrong with this place. We made stir fry for dinner and Bri and I shared another cheap as bottle of wine. Whether or not one of us had more than her fair share of the wine and got a little buzzed is not part of this story.
The reason we stayed in Nelson Friday night was to shop at the market on Saturday morning! It was huge and we were there for probably three hours. I bought a bunch of Christmas presents. We met an Irish guy selling muffins, and when we told him were from North Carolina, he said he’d met James Taylor a couple times. How cool is that? We also ran into a group of kids we know from Canterbury who were on their way home from hiking. After we finished at the market, we took our giant bag of food to the beach and had a picnic on the sand. The colour of the ocean in New Zealand is a far cry from our muddy green Atlantic—it’s bright turquoise and breathtaking. Then we got on the road again and drove back to Kaikoura, where we spent the night at a hostel called the Lazy Shag. We had dinner at place called the Whaler, which we chose solely because Briana likes the beer they serve. The beer was definitely good, but the food was crummy—we all got steaks and they messed up our order. Plus when we’d been there for maybe fifteen minutes, this giant group of Aryans descended on the bar and apparently had some kind of family reunion. I don’t know about you but I had never seen a baby in a bar before. So we sat around and talked til we got sick of Club Copenhagen and went back to the hostel. We crashed early and Rachel and Bri went to the beach to watch the sunrise. I do not care for sunrises because if I’m seeing one, it means I’m up too early. Plus I saw their photos so it’s like I was there, right? Except I was warm in bed, so that actually makes me the winner.
After said sunrise, we checked out the shops in Kaikoura, then went on walk along a cliff and down to the beach. We saw a ton of cows and seals. Only in New Zealand do they live a stone’s throw from each other. We had PB&J on a giant rock out in the water, which afforded the most beautiful view of blue sea, blue mountains and blue sky. It has to be seen to be believed, which is why I came home from the trip with 440 pictures. After deleting the crummy ones, I still have 360. Thank goodness for external hard drives.
Today classes started back—six weeks to go!—and I rang in the new term by skipping Russian history to track down my computer. I think it’s in Auckland. Fingers crossed.
Everyone email Rachel and tell her to post the tale of her tramping trip, which is highly entertaining. Do it now.
love-
Carie
I’m so excited to finally have news about my life in NZ—the second week of spring break was much more interesting than the first. The trampers came back Saturday afternoon, and they had their rental van for one more day, so we went on an adventure. We had lunch and beer samples at a brewery called Brew Moon, and further on up the road was Waipara Springs Winery, where we sampled maybe five wines. It was such a beautiful day to sit outside, be with friends and contemplate the characteristics of wine. I’m getting so educated in this country. Later that afternoon, Rachel’s dad flew in for a visit. He was in Sydney on business and it’s only a three-hour flight to Christchurch, so he stayed here for a few days. Bill is an excellent example of why I love it when other people’s parents come visit them: they buy stuff for everyone. Sunday night we went to a pub quiz and Bill treated us to dinner and drinks. (Disclaimer: it’s not normal for me to drink so much in a day, ok. Don’t judge.) We didn’t win the pub quiz—not even close—but it was really fun. There was one round where we had to match the pictures of dinosaurs to their names, which I dominated thanks to Scott’s childhood obsession. Okay, actually Matt dominated. I’m sure he went through his own dinosaur phase as a kid. However, had he not been there, I would have been the dinosaur champion.
Bill had rented a car, and on Monday he took Matt, Rachel and me to Akaroa, which is a historic French settlement on Banks Peninsula, further out than Diamond Harbour. It was so gorgeous! We walked around for a few hours and I took too many pictures, which may eventually reach the blog. But seeing as how my computer is probably lost somewhere in the wilds of New Zealand on its way to Auckland for the second time, don’t hold your breath. They are up on Facebook though.
The best part of break was the ROAD TRIP WITH RACHEL AND BRIANA! We drove around the northern coast of the south island and it was so much fun. I just want to point out two good things about road tripping with girls: no one cares that we stop for a bathroom break every hour, and everyone is totally fine to pull over for photo-ops every ten minutes because the country is too beautiful to be wasted. We left on Thursday morning in our rental car, named Milton (we vetoed Norbert), and drove to Kaikoura. We ate lunch there and then went on to Picton, which is a small town that sees a lot of backpackers coming through. We spent the night at a cute hostel called the Villa. We cooked pasta and Briana and I shared a nine-dollar bottle of wine, having made it our goal to find THE cheapest wine at the store. It wasn’t too bad, actually. Also, I should point out that the reason Rachel chose the Villa over other hostels was that they served free apple crumble. Win. We were all asleep by ten. Rachel got this creepy bedspread with a pattern of clown heads. Naturally Bri and I found this hilarious. So we took a picture.
The next morning we went to the shops in Picton and then down to the bay. Since Rachel of course wanted to interact with nature, we drove to Nelson Lakes National Park for a walk in the woods. We stopped for PB&J at a little spot next to the lake, which was gorgeous. We took a ton of pictures. From the park I drove (yes, I drove, and no one died) to the town of Nelson, which is bigger than Picton. We stayed at a sweet as hostel called the Paradiso, which has a pool! I want to go back to Nelson and stay there when the weather is warmer. Also, every time we walked past the reception desk, the radio was playing Bad Company or Journey or something. You can’t go wrong with this place. We made stir fry for dinner and Bri and I shared another cheap as bottle of wine. Whether or not one of us had more than her fair share of the wine and got a little buzzed is not part of this story.
The reason we stayed in Nelson Friday night was to shop at the market on Saturday morning! It was huge and we were there for probably three hours. I bought a bunch of Christmas presents. We met an Irish guy selling muffins, and when we told him were from North Carolina, he said he’d met James Taylor a couple times. How cool is that? We also ran into a group of kids we know from Canterbury who were on their way home from hiking. After we finished at the market, we took our giant bag of food to the beach and had a picnic on the sand. The colour of the ocean in New Zealand is a far cry from our muddy green Atlantic—it’s bright turquoise and breathtaking. Then we got on the road again and drove back to Kaikoura, where we spent the night at a hostel called the Lazy Shag. We had dinner at place called the Whaler, which we chose solely because Briana likes the beer they serve. The beer was definitely good, but the food was crummy—we all got steaks and they messed up our order. Plus when we’d been there for maybe fifteen minutes, this giant group of Aryans descended on the bar and apparently had some kind of family reunion. I don’t know about you but I had never seen a baby in a bar before. So we sat around and talked til we got sick of Club Copenhagen and went back to the hostel. We crashed early and Rachel and Bri went to the beach to watch the sunrise. I do not care for sunrises because if I’m seeing one, it means I’m up too early. Plus I saw their photos so it’s like I was there, right? Except I was warm in bed, so that actually makes me the winner.
After said sunrise, we checked out the shops in Kaikoura, then went on walk along a cliff and down to the beach. We saw a ton of cows and seals. Only in New Zealand do they live a stone’s throw from each other. We had PB&J on a giant rock out in the water, which afforded the most beautiful view of blue sea, blue mountains and blue sky. It has to be seen to be believed, which is why I came home from the trip with 440 pictures. After deleting the crummy ones, I still have 360. Thank goodness for external hard drives.
Today classes started back—six weeks to go!—and I rang in the new term by skipping Russian history to track down my computer. I think it’s in Auckland. Fingers crossed.
Everyone email Rachel and tell her to post the tale of her tramping trip, which is highly entertaining. Do it now.
love-
Carie
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