Well, we haven't had too much excitement going on here on this side of the world lately. Exam time has arrived at the University of Otago, and we have been studying like crazy. I just took my 3rd exam today, and I still have another left in a few days. Basically, most of my time in the past week and a half has been either spent inside at the flat, inside at the library, or inside at some other quiet building on or near campus. And all I can say is that I have been STUDYING......in NEW ZEALAND. There has got to be something wrong with this picture. I am supposed to be here having fun and instead I am stuck inside trying to cram a semester's worth of knowledge into my brain, which is currently full to the brim with (most likely) useless information. Oh, and a huge detail that I have left out so far....most exams here are worth from about 60-80% of our final grade!!! Not cool. Not cool at all. So even if I have done pretty descent in a class all semester, it doesn't really matter because if I totally flop the final exam, then I am up a veeeery long creek without a paddle. So lots of prayers are appreciated! But let's not worry about that for now.
Luckily I will be done with this in a few days, and then I get to go on what will probably be my final excursion for this semester in New Zealand. I'm praying for good weather though so that it will be pretty because it's not looking good so far. Either way, it will be fun! And exams will be over for me! OH, and I forgot. Tomorrow (Tuesday for me) will be 2 weeks until I fly home to the States. I can't BELIEVE that my time here is almost over. I'm so sad. But I can't wait to see people when I get home. Speaking of home...here's a shout out to Beth Chase Ramsey and Bebe "Beebs" Chase who were the first swimmers in the Chase family pool the other day. Congrats, and keep it warm for me for when I come home and we party!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Milford Sound and Queenstown
On Friday night (the 16th), Lainey, Sallie, Caleb, Alan, and I left Dunedin to go to Milford Sound for the weekend. We drove about 4 hours to Te Anau and stayed in a hostel that was right beside the lake. Our hostel was actually like our own little cabin. There was a bathroom area on one side with beds, then a sink area on the other side with more beds, and plenty of space for the 5 of us. It was dark when we arrived that night, but on Saturday morning we awoke to the beautiful scenery around us. We knew that we were staying near the lake, but when we walked outside we realized that we had an amazing view of Lake Te Anau and the gorgeous surrounding mountains. The Fall colors of the leaves contrasting with the snowy mountains up top were unbelievable. We went into town for breakfast, got Alan all set up for everything that he needed for his next few weeks of hiking and traveling, and finally headed out on our way to Milford Sound.
The 2 hours drive to Milford Sound was so beautiful as well. We were again surrounded by mountains the whole time through the twisting roads, and we even actually drove through a mountain at one point. They built a tunnel to go through this mountain, but there was a light signal telling us when we could go. The sign by the signal said that there were 15 minutes between signals, so we just had to pull up and sit there for quite a while until the light would change. It was kind of spooky driving through it, but kind of cool at the same time. We arrived in Milford Sound and booked the last cruise tour of the day just in time. Thank goodness our boat wasn’t that crowded, so it was very relaxing. We were actually able to sit back and appreciate the size and beauty of this place instead of having to worry about being surrounding by tons of annoying tourists. Milford Sound really was amazing though. There were huge, steep, mountains jutting out from the water everywhere you looked. It was a lot like Doubtful Sound, but different at the same time. I saw Doubtful from a kayak and Milford from a huge boat, so I guess it was a good contrast. They were both definitely worth the trip. But now back to Milford...we cruised through the sound, past waterfalls, out to the Tasman Sea, and then back again. We even got to see tons of bottle-nosed dolphins that swam along with out boat. It was a really fun day.
After seeing Milford Sound, we drove back to Te Anau and had one final dinner with Alan before saying our good-byes and dropping him off at his hostel where he would stay until he left to start hiking the Milford Track. It was sad to leave him, but we knew he would have so much fun. So, Caleb, Sallie, Lainey, and I drove the few hours to Queenstown to another hostel in Queenstown to stay for the night. On Sunday morning, we woke up, checked out of the hostel, and went into the downtown Queenstown area. We walked around for while and then decided to do the skyline gondola up the side of one of the mountains. It was really cool and had an amazing view of Queenstown and the lake surrounding it. After hanging around town for a bit longer and going to a bakery for lunch, it was time to head back since we had classes the next day. We had yet another gorgeous drive through New Zealand back to Dunedin and were finally home again after another fun-filled road trip.
The 2 hours drive to Milford Sound was so beautiful as well. We were again surrounded by mountains the whole time through the twisting roads, and we even actually drove through a mountain at one point. They built a tunnel to go through this mountain, but there was a light signal telling us when we could go. The sign by the signal said that there were 15 minutes between signals, so we just had to pull up and sit there for quite a while until the light would change. It was kind of spooky driving through it, but kind of cool at the same time. We arrived in Milford Sound and booked the last cruise tour of the day just in time. Thank goodness our boat wasn’t that crowded, so it was very relaxing. We were actually able to sit back and appreciate the size and beauty of this place instead of having to worry about being surrounding by tons of annoying tourists. Milford Sound really was amazing though. There were huge, steep, mountains jutting out from the water everywhere you looked. It was a lot like Doubtful Sound, but different at the same time. I saw Doubtful from a kayak and Milford from a huge boat, so I guess it was a good contrast. They were both definitely worth the trip. But now back to Milford...we cruised through the sound, past waterfalls, out to the Tasman Sea, and then back again. We even got to see tons of bottle-nosed dolphins that swam along with out boat. It was a really fun day.
After seeing Milford Sound, we drove back to Te Anau and had one final dinner with Alan before saying our good-byes and dropping him off at his hostel where he would stay until he left to start hiking the Milford Track. It was sad to leave him, but we knew he would have so much fun. So, Caleb, Sallie, Lainey, and I drove the few hours to Queenstown to another hostel in Queenstown to stay for the night. On Sunday morning, we woke up, checked out of the hostel, and went into the downtown Queenstown area. We walked around for while and then decided to do the skyline gondola up the side of one of the mountains. It was really cool and had an amazing view of Queenstown and the lake surrounding it. After hanging around town for a bit longer and going to a bakery for lunch, it was time to head back since we had classes the next day. We had yet another gorgeous drive through New Zealand back to Dunedin and were finally home again after another fun-filled road trip.
Highlights of a Few Busy Weeks
When we finally got back from Australia, we were exhausted. We stayed in Dunedin for the next few weeks, but we still had plenty to do including tons of homework and lots of fun stuff to do around town. The next week, was Cinco de Mayo (on the 5th of May obviously). No one has ever heard of Cinco de Mayo here by the way, which I guess kind of makes sense because New Zealand is no where near Mexico. Either way, we decided that we should celebrate, so we made Mexican food including enchiladas, Mexican rice, and lots of other yummy stuff. We also decided go to the Bog for Monday night trivia, which is always fun. We always do pretty decent considering the fact that we are not from New Zealand and many of the questions are things that we have never heard of before in our lives, but like I said, it’s always fun. The next night, Tuesday, we went to the Capping Show dress rehearsal. In New Zealand, they call graduation “capping,” and the Capping Show is a performance that they put on for a few weeks around capping time. We weren’t really sure what it would be or what to expect, but we thought that we’d go anyway since the dress rehearsal was free. Well, let’s just say that once we got there we realized that the point of this play was to be as ridiculously offensive as possible. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was funny, but most parts were quite unnecessary. At least we got a sense of the cultural differences between us and the Kiwis. It was interesting, that’s for sure, but still fun too.
After another busy week, we cleaned the flat on Friday night to prepare for some visitors that were coming that weekend. On Saturday, Alan, Sallie’s friend from Chattanooga, flew into Dunedin. We (Sallie, Lindsay, Lainey, Jens, and I) took him to the rugby game that night, which was a lot of fun because none of us had ever been before. We knew nothing about rugby, but it’s really big here. Unfortunately, the Otago Highlanders were not a very good team so they lost, but it was a good experience and a lot of fun either way. The next morning, Caleb, Sallie’s boyfriend from Athens, Georgia, flew into town. Caleb and Alan are really good friends because they both go to UGA in Athens, so it was a lot of fun having them around, and we did a lot of stuff with them throughout the week.
Monday, we decided to take them to trivia at the Bog. We did really well with them on our team, but we obviously still didn’t know all of the answers to the New Zealand questions. At one point, the host was asking if people knew the theme song to the cartoon “Captain Planet.” Well, a lot of us at the table used to watch that as kids, so when we were talking about it I told them that I knew part of the song. Well, the next thing I know, the host wanted a person from each group to come up on stage and do the best that they could to sing this song. Naturally, all of my “friends” told me that I had to go up there, and I reluctantly did so. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I did what I had to do. Luckily, we didn’t have to have amazing vocals or anything....just lots of enthusiasm and creativity. I did what I could and made a fool out of myself in the process, and sadly did not win the extra points for my team. They were proud of me though. I guess I am truly a team player.
Tuesday the 13th was Alan’s birthday, so of course we had to celebrate. That night, Lainey, Lindsay, Sallie, Alan, Caleb, Jens, and I walked downtown to Etrusco, this great Italian restaurant, for Alan’s birthday dinner. Afterwards, we walked to Backstage where they have an “open mic night” and play music every Tuesday, to hang out for a while. It was a really fun night. When we got back to the flat, we sang “Happy Birthday” to Alan and gave him the yummy cupcakes that we had made earlier that day. On Wednesday, Sallie, Lainey, and I decided to drive Caleb and Alan out to the peninsula. There wasn’t really too much to do out there, but we took different routes there and back to get some variety, and of course it was absolutely beautiful. Dunedin is just such a pretty place. When we got back, Caleb and Sallie went out on a date while the rest of us made enchiladas (yes, again...) and Lindsay had her friend Ant over for dinner. Then Alan invited Lainey and I out to a movie since everyone else was busy, and we went to see the Bob Dylan movie that I’ve been wanting to see called “I’m Not There.” I haven’t gone out to see a movie since I’ve been here in New Zealand, so I was really excited and the movie was really good too. On Thursday, it was Alan’s last night in town because he is going to travel around New Zealand by himself for a month before he goes back to the States, so we thought that we’d do something fun that night too. Caleb and Alan decided that they wanted to cook for us that night, and they made a delicious pasta dinner for all of us. Then, we went over to our neighbors’ flat for a pot luck party for Cat, one of the Kiwi hosts, because she was leaving to go to Nepal for the rest of the time that we’ll be here. It was good to get all of our neighbors together so that we could see everyone and also because Alan and Caleb were finally able to meet everyone. Then, Lainey, Sallie, Arley, Alan, Caleb and I decided that we wanted to go out dancing, and Manu even came with us too. After relaxing and talking for a while by the fire at one of the places, Arley and Lainey had to leave, but the rest of us stayed out to dance. Manu danced with me for most of the night until he had to go back and then I danced with Alan for part of the time the time, and then some with Caleb and Sallie too. We were all together most of the time really. It was so much fun though. I’ve discovered that I love going out and dancing. It was definitely a fun and busy few weeks.
After another busy week, we cleaned the flat on Friday night to prepare for some visitors that were coming that weekend. On Saturday, Alan, Sallie’s friend from Chattanooga, flew into Dunedin. We (Sallie, Lindsay, Lainey, Jens, and I) took him to the rugby game that night, which was a lot of fun because none of us had ever been before. We knew nothing about rugby, but it’s really big here. Unfortunately, the Otago Highlanders were not a very good team so they lost, but it was a good experience and a lot of fun either way. The next morning, Caleb, Sallie’s boyfriend from Athens, Georgia, flew into town. Caleb and Alan are really good friends because they both go to UGA in Athens, so it was a lot of fun having them around, and we did a lot of stuff with them throughout the week.
Monday, we decided to take them to trivia at the Bog. We did really well with them on our team, but we obviously still didn’t know all of the answers to the New Zealand questions. At one point, the host was asking if people knew the theme song to the cartoon “Captain Planet.” Well, a lot of us at the table used to watch that as kids, so when we were talking about it I told them that I knew part of the song. Well, the next thing I know, the host wanted a person from each group to come up on stage and do the best that they could to sing this song. Naturally, all of my “friends” told me that I had to go up there, and I reluctantly did so. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I did what I had to do. Luckily, we didn’t have to have amazing vocals or anything....just lots of enthusiasm and creativity. I did what I could and made a fool out of myself in the process, and sadly did not win the extra points for my team. They were proud of me though. I guess I am truly a team player.
Tuesday the 13th was Alan’s birthday, so of course we had to celebrate. That night, Lainey, Lindsay, Sallie, Alan, Caleb, Jens, and I walked downtown to Etrusco, this great Italian restaurant, for Alan’s birthday dinner. Afterwards, we walked to Backstage where they have an “open mic night” and play music every Tuesday, to hang out for a while. It was a really fun night. When we got back to the flat, we sang “Happy Birthday” to Alan and gave him the yummy cupcakes that we had made earlier that day. On Wednesday, Sallie, Lainey, and I decided to drive Caleb and Alan out to the peninsula. There wasn’t really too much to do out there, but we took different routes there and back to get some variety, and of course it was absolutely beautiful. Dunedin is just such a pretty place. When we got back, Caleb and Sallie went out on a date while the rest of us made enchiladas (yes, again...) and Lindsay had her friend Ant over for dinner. Then Alan invited Lainey and I out to a movie since everyone else was busy, and we went to see the Bob Dylan movie that I’ve been wanting to see called “I’m Not There.” I haven’t gone out to see a movie since I’ve been here in New Zealand, so I was really excited and the movie was really good too. On Thursday, it was Alan’s last night in town because he is going to travel around New Zealand by himself for a month before he goes back to the States, so we thought that we’d do something fun that night too. Caleb and Alan decided that they wanted to cook for us that night, and they made a delicious pasta dinner for all of us. Then, we went over to our neighbors’ flat for a pot luck party for Cat, one of the Kiwi hosts, because she was leaving to go to Nepal for the rest of the time that we’ll be here. It was good to get all of our neighbors together so that we could see everyone and also because Alan and Caleb were finally able to meet everyone. Then, Lainey, Sallie, Arley, Alan, Caleb and I decided that we wanted to go out dancing, and Manu even came with us too. After relaxing and talking for a while by the fire at one of the places, Arley and Lainey had to leave, but the rest of us stayed out to dance. Manu danced with me for most of the night until he had to go back and then I danced with Alan for part of the time the time, and then some with Caleb and Sallie too. We were all together most of the time really. It was so much fun though. I’ve discovered that I love going out and dancing. It was definitely a fun and busy few weeks.
Monday, May 19, 2008
...and then on to Sydney!
So to continue on, Lindsay, Sallie, Arley, Lainey, and I (all together again) left Cairns to fly to Sydney. We flew over the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge on the way in, which finally made it seem real. It was pouring down rain as we caught a taxi through the heavy traffic to our hostel, which was much nicer than the awful one in Cairns by the way. We stayed in the Mountbatton Hotel...which was a hostel, not a hotel by the way...and it was on a main street in Sydney near China Town. We were starving, so after we put all of our stuff into our rooms we headed out to eat at a restaurant down the street. Thank goodness it had finally stopped raining. We then decided to walk to Darling Harbour which was just 10 minutes away from our hostel on foot. The walk through China Town was really cool, but the best part was actually arriving at Darling Harbour. Sallie and I were walking a bit ahead of the others because we were so anxious to get there, and our eyes lit up at the sight of the harbour. It was beautiful. The harbour was lined with restaurants and lights of every color from all of the buildings were reflecting off the water. The 2 of us sat down in disbelief that 2 girls that were best friends since the 1st grade had made their friendship last this long and that we were actually sitting in Sydney together looking at this amazing view. The others joined, at we all walked around the harbour trying to soak it all in. I fell in love with Sydney.
The next day was ANZAC Day (Australia New Zealand Army Corps Day), which is a big national holiday through both Australia and New Zealand. The soldiers of every Australia military corps, decked in full uniform, filled the streets and pubs in celebration and honor for their corps. Walking down the streets, we even stopped and talked to a few of them at one point. It was really cool to be able to experience that day in Sydney. So, on ANZAC Day, which was Friday by the way, we went to a huge market that morning, and then walked on to Sydney Harbour. We arrived, and were finally able to see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge up close. I still can't believe that I was actually there because it is just one of those things that you always see pictures of or something, but to actually be there was way better. The Rocks (the area around the Sydney Harbour) was really cool too. The streets were lined with shops, pubs, restaurants, and tons and tons of people. The harbour area had performers everywhere with plenty of people standing around to watch. We made our way around the harbour and to the Opera House and took plenty of pictures along the way. Speaking of taking pictures, while we were standing by the Opera House Lindsay asked a group of guys, who we later found out were from Thailand, to take our picture, which they did. Then, all 3 of them insisted on having solo pictures taken with the 5 of us for some strange reason. So there we are...a group of 5 American girls with a Thai guy standing beside us...posing for multiple pictures per Thai guy. I swear it was probably one of the most awkward moments of my life. Who even knows what they were thinking. After we escaped, we walked around the harbour some more, went to dinner (after which Lindsay left to go stay in Newcastle with a friend), and eventually made our way back to the hostel for a much needed night of sleep.
The next day, Arley, Sallie, Lainey, and I took a train to Featherdale Wildlife Reserve so that we could see all of the Australian animals, and it was so much fun! We saw so many cool animals such as kangaroos, wallabies, and koalas (all of which we got to pet), along with wombats, dingos, kookaburas, lots of interesting birds, etc, etc. It was great. After getting back into the city, we relaxed in the hostel a bit to get all rested up before we went out to dinner. We walked to Darling Harbour again to have a nice dinner for our last night in Sydney. So we ate at this restaurant on the harbour with outside seating. It was so pretty and the food was great too. Then we walked around the harbour for a while before we had to head back to the hostel for our last night.
The next day, Arley had an early morning flight out of Sydney, but Lainey, Sallie, and I didn't fly out until late that afternoon. So, we decided to walk back down to Sydney Harbour to this really great market in the Rocks to look around for a while. We didn't really get too much, however, we each got a different ring at one stand because we have all been looking for one, so we were pretty excited about that...haha. I think we bought a few other souvenirs and such too, and we also got some chocolate covered strawberries that were quite delicious. After a good morning and early afternoon in town, we made our way back to the hostel and then to the airport to meet Lindsay for our flight back to New Zealand. Overall, Australia was great. I loved, loved, loved Sydney. It was such a fun city, but I was so ready to get back to my second home in Dunedin. New Zealand is way cooler and by far so much better than Australia, and I missed it.
The next day was ANZAC Day (Australia New Zealand Army Corps Day), which is a big national holiday through both Australia and New Zealand. The soldiers of every Australia military corps, decked in full uniform, filled the streets and pubs in celebration and honor for their corps. Walking down the streets, we even stopped and talked to a few of them at one point. It was really cool to be able to experience that day in Sydney. So, on ANZAC Day, which was Friday by the way, we went to a huge market that morning, and then walked on to Sydney Harbour. We arrived, and were finally able to see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge up close. I still can't believe that I was actually there because it is just one of those things that you always see pictures of or something, but to actually be there was way better. The Rocks (the area around the Sydney Harbour) was really cool too. The streets were lined with shops, pubs, restaurants, and tons and tons of people. The harbour area had performers everywhere with plenty of people standing around to watch. We made our way around the harbour and to the Opera House and took plenty of pictures along the way. Speaking of taking pictures, while we were standing by the Opera House Lindsay asked a group of guys, who we later found out were from Thailand, to take our picture, which they did. Then, all 3 of them insisted on having solo pictures taken with the 5 of us for some strange reason. So there we are...a group of 5 American girls with a Thai guy standing beside us...posing for multiple pictures per Thai guy. I swear it was probably one of the most awkward moments of my life. Who even knows what they were thinking. After we escaped, we walked around the harbour some more, went to dinner (after which Lindsay left to go stay in Newcastle with a friend), and eventually made our way back to the hostel for a much needed night of sleep.
The next day, Arley, Sallie, Lainey, and I took a train to Featherdale Wildlife Reserve so that we could see all of the Australian animals, and it was so much fun! We saw so many cool animals such as kangaroos, wallabies, and koalas (all of which we got to pet), along with wombats, dingos, kookaburas, lots of interesting birds, etc, etc. It was great. After getting back into the city, we relaxed in the hostel a bit to get all rested up before we went out to dinner. We walked to Darling Harbour again to have a nice dinner for our last night in Sydney. So we ate at this restaurant on the harbour with outside seating. It was so pretty and the food was great too. Then we walked around the harbour for a while before we had to head back to the hostel for our last night.
The next day, Arley had an early morning flight out of Sydney, but Lainey, Sallie, and I didn't fly out until late that afternoon. So, we decided to walk back down to Sydney Harbour to this really great market in the Rocks to look around for a while. We didn't really get too much, however, we each got a different ring at one stand because we have all been looking for one, so we were pretty excited about that...haha. I think we bought a few other souvenirs and such too, and we also got some chocolate covered strawberries that were quite delicious. After a good morning and early afternoon in town, we made our way back to the hostel and then to the airport to meet Lindsay for our flight back to New Zealand. Overall, Australia was great. I loved, loved, loved Sydney. It was such a fun city, but I was so ready to get back to my second home in Dunedin. New Zealand is way cooler and by far so much better than Australia, and I missed it.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
A few days in Cairns, Australia...
After getting back to Dunedin late Sunday night after a long weekend of kayaking in Doubtful Sound, we packed into the wee hours of Monday morning for our week in Australia. Lindsay was already there scuba diving with some friends, so Sallie, Lainey, Arley, and I left early Monday morning to drive to Christchurch and catch our plane to Cairns. Arley was on a different flight, but Lainey, Sallie and I slept most of the way because we were so exhausted from the weekend and lack of sleep. We arrived in Cairns at nearly midnight, got our bags, and then called our hostel for the free airport pick-up. We arrived at our hostel, the Cairns Beach House, where we went to sign in at reception. The guy working the desk was exceptionally rude and not helpful at all. We had booked a 4-bed private room so that we could have privacy and leave our bags in the room during the day, but the guy gave us a room with 8 beds and there were already people in there. So when Lainey and I tried to go back to the reception desk so that we could get the right room, but the guy was gone and he had shut down the office. When we finally found him again and told him what the problem was, he acted very annoyed at us and gave us another key to a room, which we finally found without any help from this jerk. The room was pretty bad too. It was really really hot, and there was no air conditioning. We even saw dead roaches and rat droppings on the floor. So on that first night, no one wanted to sleep on the bottom bunk near the floor, so Sallie and Lainey slept on a top bunk together while I skooted by bed as far away from the wall as possible and climbed up on the top bunk as well. At least we had a private room. Welcome to Australia huh?
The next day was much better. Hallelujah. We explored the area around the hostel a bit, and then sat at the pool at the hostel until Arley arrived. We soon discovered that the Cairns Beach House is no where near the beach. Go figure. We had to take a 40 minute bus ride to the closest beach. On the bus, we met a guy from St. Louis, which Lainey was excited about of course since she's from St. Louis, and it even turned out that they used to live in the same neighborhood and had mutual friends. Small world. He was studying in Cairns and lived really near the beach that we were going to, so he told us where to go. Trinity Beach was nice and pretty, but we couldn't swim because it was "Stinger Season." Basically, there are way too many deadly jellyfish in the water and it would be a really dumb decision to actually get in for a swim. But we were able to lay on the beach for a while which was really nice because we had really been missing warm weather. When we got back to the hostel, we changed clothes and walked down the street to get dinner, and then walked back to the hostel yet again. We decided we were too tired from all the traveling to actually go into town that night, so we went to the really cool bar area out by the pool at the hostel and played cards. While we were playing, Lindsay shows up out of nowhere with her friend Brittany. We were so shocked because we didn't even know that she was in Cairns yets. We shared stories of all the crazy happenings so far, and then went our separate ways to bed because we all had another early morning the next day.
The next morning, Lainey, Arley, Sallie, and I booked a trip to go to Green Island where we could snorkel part of the Great Barrier Reef. We weren't certifed to scuba dive like Lindsay, so we thought that this would be a great alternative. The boat ride was about an hour out to the island, and it was really nice and pretty. When we got to the island, we went on a glass bottom boat tour, where...yeah, you guessed it...the boat we were on had a glass bottom and we were able to look down and see all the fish, coral, etc. When we got back to the island, we had lunch and then went to rent some snorkel gear. We went out the the beach and were finally able to get into the water, which was really warm by the way, and start snorkeling. It was so cool! There were tons of fish and coral everywhere. Unfortunately, the water was pretty shallow, so we didn't get to see too too much. We would have had to pay a lot of extra money to go out to snorkel the outer reef, so we were happy to see what we did. I mean, we snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef. That's still pretty cool. The rest of the day we layed around at the beach and the pool on Green Island until it was time to catch our boat back into Cairns. Exhausted yet again, we arrived back at the hostel and still had to keep going. Oh, I forgot to say, it was my half birthday! (and my Dad's birthday...Happy Birthday Daddy!) S0, since I am the only one of our flatmates that does not have a birthday while we are here in New Zealand, they decided that we could celebrate my half birthday. So yes, I turned 20 1/2 that day. We got all dressed up and went out to dinner in town, and they even gave me presents. (Aren't they so cute). They gave me this really cool jade necklace that I had been wanting and some earrings that are so pretty! I'll have to explain the presents more when I get back because they all have special significance with New Zealand. After dinner, we went back to the hostel to pack, but we had another great day, and thank goodness....it was our last night at the Cairns Beach House.
The next day was much better. Hallelujah. We explored the area around the hostel a bit, and then sat at the pool at the hostel until Arley arrived. We soon discovered that the Cairns Beach House is no where near the beach. Go figure. We had to take a 40 minute bus ride to the closest beach. On the bus, we met a guy from St. Louis, which Lainey was excited about of course since she's from St. Louis, and it even turned out that they used to live in the same neighborhood and had mutual friends. Small world. He was studying in Cairns and lived really near the beach that we were going to, so he told us where to go. Trinity Beach was nice and pretty, but we couldn't swim because it was "Stinger Season." Basically, there are way too many deadly jellyfish in the water and it would be a really dumb decision to actually get in for a swim. But we were able to lay on the beach for a while which was really nice because we had really been missing warm weather. When we got back to the hostel, we changed clothes and walked down the street to get dinner, and then walked back to the hostel yet again. We decided we were too tired from all the traveling to actually go into town that night, so we went to the really cool bar area out by the pool at the hostel and played cards. While we were playing, Lindsay shows up out of nowhere with her friend Brittany. We were so shocked because we didn't even know that she was in Cairns yets. We shared stories of all the crazy happenings so far, and then went our separate ways to bed because we all had another early morning the next day.
The next morning, Lainey, Arley, Sallie, and I booked a trip to go to Green Island where we could snorkel part of the Great Barrier Reef. We weren't certifed to scuba dive like Lindsay, so we thought that this would be a great alternative. The boat ride was about an hour out to the island, and it was really nice and pretty. When we got to the island, we went on a glass bottom boat tour, where...yeah, you guessed it...the boat we were on had a glass bottom and we were able to look down and see all the fish, coral, etc. When we got back to the island, we had lunch and then went to rent some snorkel gear. We went out the the beach and were finally able to get into the water, which was really warm by the way, and start snorkeling. It was so cool! There were tons of fish and coral everywhere. Unfortunately, the water was pretty shallow, so we didn't get to see too too much. We would have had to pay a lot of extra money to go out to snorkel the outer reef, so we were happy to see what we did. I mean, we snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef. That's still pretty cool. The rest of the day we layed around at the beach and the pool on Green Island until it was time to catch our boat back into Cairns. Exhausted yet again, we arrived back at the hostel and still had to keep going. Oh, I forgot to say, it was my half birthday! (and my Dad's birthday...Happy Birthday Daddy!) S0, since I am the only one of our flatmates that does not have a birthday while we are here in New Zealand, they decided that we could celebrate my half birthday. So yes, I turned 20 1/2 that day. We got all dressed up and went out to dinner in town, and they even gave me presents. (Aren't they so cute). They gave me this really cool jade necklace that I had been wanting and some earrings that are so pretty! I'll have to explain the presents more when I get back because they all have special significance with New Zealand. After dinner, we went back to the hostel to pack, but we had another great day, and thank goodness....it was our last night at the Cairns Beach House.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Doubtful Sound
Next adventure = sea kayaking in Doubtful Sound = wonderful = a lot to say!
On Friday, the 18th of April, Sallie, Lainey, and I left a cold, rainy Dunedin with our small group of 6 to go sea kayaking in Doubtful Sound for the weekend. Besides Megan, our Kiwi driver, were with 3 other guys: A.J. from Minnesota, Charles from North Carolina, and Bruno from France, all of whom were very nice. So we drove west across the South Island and stayed in Manapouri for the night. We stayed in a little one-room cabin and had to walk outside to the bathroom and kitchen, which really wasn't that bad except for the freezing cold rain. We stayed up talking for a bit that night, watched a movie, and then went to sleep because we knew we had to wake up way too early the next morning.
Sure enough, alarms were going off by 5:30am, and we were soon up, bundled in layers, packed, and in the kitchen for breakfast. That's when Megan reported to us that it had snowed throughout Central Otago overnight, which is unusually early for the area, especially since it was just the beginning of Fall. We then had a short drive to the docks at Lake Manapouri, where there was a little snow on the ground along the way, and we met up with our guide, Fi (so far, our guesses are that Fi is short for Fiona, Phoebe, or...Phineas?...haha). We said good-bye to Megan, and then Fi introduced the 6 of us to the other 2 that would be kayaking with us: Nicole and Lydia, both middle-aged women from Perth, Australia. We loaded all of our gear onto a boat and then began the trip across Lake Manapouri. Luckily, since it was so cold, we were able to sit inside on the boat with free tea and coffee to keep us warm. However, we did get sick of looking at everything out the window, and, from time to time, ventured outside on top of the boat to see the beautiful scenery. It was dawn, and there were still misty clouds covering the half-snow covered mountains that surrounded us. It was so beautiful, and so worth braving the wind and cold outside of the boat to be able to see everything properly.
An hour later, we arrived on the other side of Lake Manapouri. We unloaded all of our gear from the boat, and met inside for further direction. Fi handed all of us everything that we were supposed to be wearing the next 2 days, which included wetsuits, polypro shirts to wear under the wetsuits, fleeces, fleece hats, waterproof jakcets, etc, etc. So, we got changed, loaded up the van, and were again on our way. We drove for about an hour through the snowy mountains (lots of snow!) and over the Wilmont Pass, where we finally got to the place in Deep Cove where we were to depart in our kayaks. After unloading and loading yet again, we finally piled into our kayaks and headed out into Doubtful Sound.
We had double kayaks, so Sallie and I were partners, and Lainey was with Bruno. This actually worked out pretty well because Lainey took French in high school, so she was trying to talk to him in French a lot of the time. Of course, Bruno said that he came to New Zealand to learn English so he wanted to speak English, but Lainey told him that if she was supposed to help him with his English then he had to help her with her French. Haha, they were such a funny little team. And Bruno was hilarious, but always very nice to us. He said that Americans and Kiwis talk way too fast, and he would always make fun of us saying "Oh my GOSH! Are you serious??? YES, I am serious! This is AWESOME!" (Imagine all of that with a sarcastic French accent). But it was all in good fun, and we had a lot of laughs. Everything the whole day was so gorgeous. We were kayaking through all of these mountains, still half-covered in snow, jutting out all around us. It was probably one of the most beautiful and amazing things that I have ever seen. I feel like I have said that a lot since I've been here, but this definitely tops the charts so far. Kayaking is really fun, but it can get kind of tiring after a while. Fi sure tried to keep us motivated though. She bothered me to be quite honest...drove me crazy would actually be a better way to put it. She seemed to think that there was something wrong with me all day, and kept checking on me. It was so weird. I asked Sallie if I looked like I had problems or something, and she said no...so who knows. AND Fi called me Sarah, which all of you should know that I hate.....and this is even after I had told her twice, when asked, that my name was Sarah Beth. But whatever. There was more stuff than that, but I just don't feel like getting into it right now. Just take my word for it....it was still kind of funny though.
Anyways, we kayaked all day, stopping at a little beach for lunch, and then we went on to the campsite. We were all exhausted, but we still had to carry the very heavy kayaks up the beach to the campsite. After setting up the tents, we changed into our warm clothes....which was a difficult process considering that we had to get that wetsuit off. As we were finishing changing, we looked over to the other side of the beach to see Bruno in nothing but a very short pair or shorts and a towel over his arm, marching out towards the water. I mean, he kept saying all day that he wanted to swim, but we thought he was kidding. Sure enough, we walks right into the icy water and dives in to swim around for a bit. He was crazy. He only said it was "a bit cold." Ha! Anyways, we then went to the cooking area to make and eat dinner. After dinner, Fi took out sort of a whistle that would make the sound of a kiwi bird (a very rare bird that is native of New Zealand...and part of the reason that New Zealanders are called Kiwis), so she blew the whistle a few times so we could hear it. Later that night, while in the tents, we actually heard a kiwi! It was so cool because they are extremely rare, but there are some that live in the Fiordlands area where we were. After a long day, we were all extremely tired, and for whatever reason my forearms starting cramping from paddling all day, and this continued painfully for the rest of the night. So, Lainey, Sallie, and I went to the tent around 9:00 and went to sleep shortly after. It was probably the earliest I've gone to sleep in years, but we needed it. It was freezing cold out too, so the 3 of us, wrapped in our many layers and sleeping bags, cuddled together in attempts to keep warm and get a decent amount of sleep.
The next day was pretty much the same as the day before, except that once we were on the water, we went at a much more relaxing pace. Plus, we got to see the sun come up over the mountains, and it was so pretty! The sun was blinding as it reflected off the water...Sallie and I actually almost ran into a small tree that was coming up out of the shallow water...haha, oops. Bruno kept saying, "I am so happy. I am so happy to be hear, and I'm so happy to be French." Haha, we still don't know why he was saying that he was happy to be French, but it was funny either way. Oh, and speaking of Bruno, I forgot to add this in earlier: he kayaked in a beret the whole time. Yes, a beret....hahaha, it was hilarious. Lainey looked like she was on a gondola ride in Venice and Bruno was her guide. Sallie and I got a kick out of watching them. He said that wearing a beret is very old fashioned, and he would never wear it in France, but he liked wearing it while he was here. But yes, it was a good day....until after lunch when Fi decided that we needed to pick up the pace because we had to make it back to Deep Cove by a certain time. She was basically leaving some of us behind and wouldn't stop and wait because she wanted to "keep up the momentum." Whatever, Fi. Either way, it was still a good, fun day and we even made it back on time. We arrived back at Deep Cove, unpacked, changed clothes, packed again, drove through the mountains back to Lake Manapouri, rode the boat over the lake, and finally arrived back in Manapouri with Megan waiting to drive us back to Dunedin. It was definitely a great trip, and an awesome experience.
On Friday, the 18th of April, Sallie, Lainey, and I left a cold, rainy Dunedin with our small group of 6 to go sea kayaking in Doubtful Sound for the weekend. Besides Megan, our Kiwi driver, were with 3 other guys: A.J. from Minnesota, Charles from North Carolina, and Bruno from France, all of whom were very nice. So we drove west across the South Island and stayed in Manapouri for the night. We stayed in a little one-room cabin and had to walk outside to the bathroom and kitchen, which really wasn't that bad except for the freezing cold rain. We stayed up talking for a bit that night, watched a movie, and then went to sleep because we knew we had to wake up way too early the next morning.
Sure enough, alarms were going off by 5:30am, and we were soon up, bundled in layers, packed, and in the kitchen for breakfast. That's when Megan reported to us that it had snowed throughout Central Otago overnight, which is unusually early for the area, especially since it was just the beginning of Fall. We then had a short drive to the docks at Lake Manapouri, where there was a little snow on the ground along the way, and we met up with our guide, Fi (so far, our guesses are that Fi is short for Fiona, Phoebe, or...Phineas?...haha). We said good-bye to Megan, and then Fi introduced the 6 of us to the other 2 that would be kayaking with us: Nicole and Lydia, both middle-aged women from Perth, Australia. We loaded all of our gear onto a boat and then began the trip across Lake Manapouri. Luckily, since it was so cold, we were able to sit inside on the boat with free tea and coffee to keep us warm. However, we did get sick of looking at everything out the window, and, from time to time, ventured outside on top of the boat to see the beautiful scenery. It was dawn, and there were still misty clouds covering the half-snow covered mountains that surrounded us. It was so beautiful, and so worth braving the wind and cold outside of the boat to be able to see everything properly.
An hour later, we arrived on the other side of Lake Manapouri. We unloaded all of our gear from the boat, and met inside for further direction. Fi handed all of us everything that we were supposed to be wearing the next 2 days, which included wetsuits, polypro shirts to wear under the wetsuits, fleeces, fleece hats, waterproof jakcets, etc, etc. So, we got changed, loaded up the van, and were again on our way. We drove for about an hour through the snowy mountains (lots of snow!) and over the Wilmont Pass, where we finally got to the place in Deep Cove where we were to depart in our kayaks. After unloading and loading yet again, we finally piled into our kayaks and headed out into Doubtful Sound.
We had double kayaks, so Sallie and I were partners, and Lainey was with Bruno. This actually worked out pretty well because Lainey took French in high school, so she was trying to talk to him in French a lot of the time. Of course, Bruno said that he came to New Zealand to learn English so he wanted to speak English, but Lainey told him that if she was supposed to help him with his English then he had to help her with her French. Haha, they were such a funny little team. And Bruno was hilarious, but always very nice to us. He said that Americans and Kiwis talk way too fast, and he would always make fun of us saying "Oh my GOSH! Are you serious??? YES, I am serious! This is AWESOME!" (Imagine all of that with a sarcastic French accent). But it was all in good fun, and we had a lot of laughs. Everything the whole day was so gorgeous. We were kayaking through all of these mountains, still half-covered in snow, jutting out all around us. It was probably one of the most beautiful and amazing things that I have ever seen. I feel like I have said that a lot since I've been here, but this definitely tops the charts so far. Kayaking is really fun, but it can get kind of tiring after a while. Fi sure tried to keep us motivated though. She bothered me to be quite honest...drove me crazy would actually be a better way to put it. She seemed to think that there was something wrong with me all day, and kept checking on me. It was so weird. I asked Sallie if I looked like I had problems or something, and she said no...so who knows. AND Fi called me Sarah, which all of you should know that I hate.....and this is even after I had told her twice, when asked, that my name was Sarah Beth. But whatever. There was more stuff than that, but I just don't feel like getting into it right now. Just take my word for it....it was still kind of funny though.
Anyways, we kayaked all day, stopping at a little beach for lunch, and then we went on to the campsite. We were all exhausted, but we still had to carry the very heavy kayaks up the beach to the campsite. After setting up the tents, we changed into our warm clothes....which was a difficult process considering that we had to get that wetsuit off. As we were finishing changing, we looked over to the other side of the beach to see Bruno in nothing but a very short pair or shorts and a towel over his arm, marching out towards the water. I mean, he kept saying all day that he wanted to swim, but we thought he was kidding. Sure enough, we walks right into the icy water and dives in to swim around for a bit. He was crazy. He only said it was "a bit cold." Ha! Anyways, we then went to the cooking area to make and eat dinner. After dinner, Fi took out sort of a whistle that would make the sound of a kiwi bird (a very rare bird that is native of New Zealand...and part of the reason that New Zealanders are called Kiwis), so she blew the whistle a few times so we could hear it. Later that night, while in the tents, we actually heard a kiwi! It was so cool because they are extremely rare, but there are some that live in the Fiordlands area where we were. After a long day, we were all extremely tired, and for whatever reason my forearms starting cramping from paddling all day, and this continued painfully for the rest of the night. So, Lainey, Sallie, and I went to the tent around 9:00 and went to sleep shortly after. It was probably the earliest I've gone to sleep in years, but we needed it. It was freezing cold out too, so the 3 of us, wrapped in our many layers and sleeping bags, cuddled together in attempts to keep warm and get a decent amount of sleep.
The next day was pretty much the same as the day before, except that once we were on the water, we went at a much more relaxing pace. Plus, we got to see the sun come up over the mountains, and it was so pretty! The sun was blinding as it reflected off the water...Sallie and I actually almost ran into a small tree that was coming up out of the shallow water...haha, oops. Bruno kept saying, "I am so happy. I am so happy to be hear, and I'm so happy to be French." Haha, we still don't know why he was saying that he was happy to be French, but it was funny either way. Oh, and speaking of Bruno, I forgot to add this in earlier: he kayaked in a beret the whole time. Yes, a beret....hahaha, it was hilarious. Lainey looked like she was on a gondola ride in Venice and Bruno was her guide. Sallie and I got a kick out of watching them. He said that wearing a beret is very old fashioned, and he would never wear it in France, but he liked wearing it while he was here. But yes, it was a good day....until after lunch when Fi decided that we needed to pick up the pace because we had to make it back to Deep Cove by a certain time. She was basically leaving some of us behind and wouldn't stop and wait because she wanted to "keep up the momentum." Whatever, Fi. Either way, it was still a good, fun day and we even made it back on time. We arrived back at Deep Cove, unpacked, changed clothes, packed again, drove through the mountains back to Lake Manapouri, rode the boat over the lake, and finally arrived back in Manapouri with Megan waiting to drive us back to Dunedin. It was definitely a great trip, and an awesome experience.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Italian Dinners and Sailing Away
Last week, Manu and Matteo finally made us an authentic Italian dinner, and it was delicious! Apparently in Italy, they eat everything in courses. So for our first course ("primero"), Manu made us penne pasta with shrimp and zuccinni. He also added in some stuff to make a very light sauce. It was so yummy. Then for the second course ("segundo"), Matteo made something that was very similar to meatloaf. Except, we didn't eat ketchup with this because the Italians would have been horrified and offended at the thought of putting "tomato sauce," that wasn't real tomatoes on one of their meals. Luckily, there was absolutely no need for any ketchup because there were spices and everything mixed in. It was delicious as well. I have decided that Italians are very good cooks.
Last Saturday, Lainey and I went sailing just north of Dunedin. We met our group (of about 10 other people) here at the recreation center, and they drove us to meet the owner of the Caprice (the huge catamaran that we sailed on for the day). We sailed around on the ocean for a little bit, and then we went fishing! It was so great because our guide told us that we could eat whatever we caught. Unfortunately, we soon found out that it was not such a good day for fishing, but we still caught a lot of fish. The problem was that most of them were not big enough to eat. But, we caught 2 fish that were big enough to eat, and I actually caught one of them! One of the really cool things was that there were albatrosses everywhere, just floating behind the boat and waiting for us to catch them some food. Their wingspan was huge, and they were really cool birds.
After sailing around for a while again, we stopped for lunch and we all got to sample the fish. We ate blue cod, and it was so yummy. It was just really cool that we caught the fish a few hours before, cooked them up, and then ate them right there on the boat. I loved it. Also, they had a harness that they could attach a person to and hoist them up to the top of the mast. I was kind of unsure if I wanted to do that or not, so Lainey went before me. I was still deciding what I wanted to do when they were lowering Lainey down and her little pinky finger got stuck in the pulley where here ropes were attached. Well, that made my decision for me, and I didn't go. Luckily, even though her finger hurt a lot, Lainey was fine.
Oh, and one thing that I didn't add at the beginning is the fact that it was not warm at all. It was cold. And windy. Thank goodness the sun was out, so it really wasn't that bad. But we were all layered up and laying in the sun, but we were still cold. So while we were still stopped for lunch, our guide said that he would take us to the beach nearby. So, we piled in the little motorboat 4 at a time and headed out to the beach, which was just a minute or so away. Well, as we were getting closer to the beach, we were stopping to let the waves go by and then ride on in, but all of a sudden I noticed a huge wave coming towards us. I remember thinking to myself that the wave should break before it reaches us, but then it didn't. Then I thought that maybe we would just go right over it, but we didn't. I noticed it getting bigger and bigger as it started to peak right beside us. I knew what was about to happen. The wave broke right on top of us. Right into the boat. All of us. Soaked. Especially me. Well, needless to say, the wave took us right into shore, soaked in cold, salt water from head to toe. We were already cold, but now we were freezing. Oh well. There was a seal laying on the beach and that was pretty cool to see. But we were only there for about 10 minutes, and we went back to the boat.
Lainey and I laid in the sun, attempting to dry off, on the way back to our starting point. Even though we were cold, and even wet, for most of the day, but over all it was very fun and totally worth it. We crashed in warm, comfy, clothes for the rest of the night. As of right now, I don't have any pictures on my computer from this trip, so I'll put them up when I can. And I am supposed to leave in about 10 mintues to go sea kayaking in Doubtful Sound, and then I leave for Australia on Monday! Wish me luck!
Last Saturday, Lainey and I went sailing just north of Dunedin. We met our group (of about 10 other people) here at the recreation center, and they drove us to meet the owner of the Caprice (the huge catamaran that we sailed on for the day). We sailed around on the ocean for a little bit, and then we went fishing! It was so great because our guide told us that we could eat whatever we caught. Unfortunately, we soon found out that it was not such a good day for fishing, but we still caught a lot of fish. The problem was that most of them were not big enough to eat. But, we caught 2 fish that were big enough to eat, and I actually caught one of them! One of the really cool things was that there were albatrosses everywhere, just floating behind the boat and waiting for us to catch them some food. Their wingspan was huge, and they were really cool birds.
After sailing around for a while again, we stopped for lunch and we all got to sample the fish. We ate blue cod, and it was so yummy. It was just really cool that we caught the fish a few hours before, cooked them up, and then ate them right there on the boat. I loved it. Also, they had a harness that they could attach a person to and hoist them up to the top of the mast. I was kind of unsure if I wanted to do that or not, so Lainey went before me. I was still deciding what I wanted to do when they were lowering Lainey down and her little pinky finger got stuck in the pulley where here ropes were attached. Well, that made my decision for me, and I didn't go. Luckily, even though her finger hurt a lot, Lainey was fine.
Oh, and one thing that I didn't add at the beginning is the fact that it was not warm at all. It was cold. And windy. Thank goodness the sun was out, so it really wasn't that bad. But we were all layered up and laying in the sun, but we were still cold. So while we were still stopped for lunch, our guide said that he would take us to the beach nearby. So, we piled in the little motorboat 4 at a time and headed out to the beach, which was just a minute or so away. Well, as we were getting closer to the beach, we were stopping to let the waves go by and then ride on in, but all of a sudden I noticed a huge wave coming towards us. I remember thinking to myself that the wave should break before it reaches us, but then it didn't. Then I thought that maybe we would just go right over it, but we didn't. I noticed it getting bigger and bigger as it started to peak right beside us. I knew what was about to happen. The wave broke right on top of us. Right into the boat. All of us. Soaked. Especially me. Well, needless to say, the wave took us right into shore, soaked in cold, salt water from head to toe. We were already cold, but now we were freezing. Oh well. There was a seal laying on the beach and that was pretty cool to see. But we were only there for about 10 minutes, and we went back to the boat.
Lainey and I laid in the sun, attempting to dry off, on the way back to our starting point. Even though we were cold, and even wet, for most of the day, but over all it was very fun and totally worth it. We crashed in warm, comfy, clothes for the rest of the night. As of right now, I don't have any pictures on my computer from this trip, so I'll put them up when I can. And I am supposed to leave in about 10 mintues to go sea kayaking in Doubtful Sound, and then I leave for Australia on Monday! Wish me luck!
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