departure

full circle

texture

The academic portion of this semester is finally over. 40 pages and 26 slides later, I find myself swamped in inca wool, a game of settlers, and a teenage romance-comedy of the 90's.

Presentations began this afternoon at 1:00 and ended promptly at 6:00. It was followed by a dinner of lamb, squash couscous, and homemade raspberry cheese cake galore. I have so much time and energy, that I don't know what to do with it, since for the past few days it was spent procrastinating.

This semester I really go into taking texture photos. Here's a random selection of crap:




I really like chai lattes.

home

homethe driveway

garden patch - lettuce and rocket
the backyard
my rooms on the top left corner. sorta.
first day of spring
the classroom
the kitchen

dining room
hanging laundry
my bedroom
second floor
welcome home

logging

We've returned safely from our Forest Ecology excursion. We packed up Thursday morning and headed over the Lewis Pass to Reefton where we stayed at Waiuta. Waiuta's an abandoned mining village in the middle of nowhere. I guess they really wanted us to focus on trees because that's all that was there. But the place had a slightly haunting feeling, the visitor's log had several accounts to be wary of the "wood-man." No worries, we're all still alive.

We then headed through Greymouth, made a pit stop at Franz Josef glacier where we once again looked at more trees. Well, this was Forest Ecology week. I'm not being sarcastic, I really enjoyed researching trees. The rest of the week we stayed at Bruce Bay, where conditions were...okay. The weather turned to crap. We stayed at an old hall, and the town consisted of three houses and a penguin. It was cold, rainy, windy, full of sand flies, etc. I cried. If it weren't for the trees I would've died.

Sleeping conditions

Franz Josef

Towards the end of Forest Ecology weather conditions turned miserable. Our last field day we went to Lake Matheson to study trees one last time. There was wind, rain, cold, all we needed was some snow. So this is the scenario: I have got thermals, jeans, snow pants, two long sleeves, a jacket, and a rain coat, soaking wet shoes, and a bag of rocks. We studied trees and skipped rocks at the lake, in the worse conditions ever. I loved it. kinda. Well now I do.

we're studying them. i promise.

Even though the tone of this post is really negative this trip had its good moments. Singing Christmas carols at the top of our lungs in the van, the endless amounts of pesto-turkey-roast beef sandwiches, playing Settlers of Catan, hiking Copeland Valley, star gazing, and kiwi hunting were a few highlights.

mmm. pesto-turkey-roast beef-avocado-lettuce-and brie sandwich.

I'm basically two pages away from finishing this stupid paper. Don't get me wrong I still love New Zealand. I'm just having my first crappy day in New Zealand. I've got a cold and I bruised my toe nail. AGH!

greenstone

Forest ecology week is on its way. Its our last class here in New Zealand, and its proving itself far more challenging than stream and marine. Already we've hiked through uncharted territories in the New Zealand low-forest. I've been hit by a tree, and it bruises. Tomorrow we leave for the West Coast: Bruce Bay and Franz Josef. Half of our final two weeks in New Zealand will be spent frolicking under giant tree ferns.

I've got a lot of mixed feelings about the closing of the semester. The Old Convent has felt closer to home than any of my dorm rooms at Westmont. I'm terribly fond of peeking out my window to see the Southern Alps in my backyard, riding through the smell of cow and burning wood each morning on my favorite mountain bike, and running across black sand most days after class. At times I feel like I've been here forever, but most days its like only yesterday that my roommates and I were unpacking suitcases into empty drawers, spreading sheets onto our country inn beds. The absence of home is quickly filled with lush rolling hills, where mountains meet the ocean, adventures into the sky. Even though I miss unlimited internet, the comforts of a cell phone, and in-n-out, I've learned to adapt and live without. I long for the embrace of California, but my heart wonders if I'll ever come back.

---sunrise at Rarangi Beach

summiting

Last week we finished God and Nature. It was a wee bit stressful considering I had 5 bible studies and 5 reading reflections to do. But three cheers for joy cause its over! All that's left is ISP and Forest Ecology and we're homeward bound.

On Saturday we had our farewell Hangi (sp?) with the Kaikoura neighborhood. Its basically like a Hawaiian luau where the pig and the rest of the food is cooked in a fire pit underground. After experiencing, the Maori, Samoan, and Hawaiian versions of this cooking method I still like Hawaiiain food the most.

After the Hangi which ended at 5 or 6 for I took another stab at spontaneity and decided to climb Mt. Fyffe. So with Sarah and Leah convinced we packed our sleeping bags and made peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches and began our ascent to an altitude of 1090 m in 2 and half hours. Outside of the hut we watched the stars appear and saw the most incredible shooting stars of my life. The shooting stars shot bright across the sky for durations of five seconds each. Bloody brilliant.

The next morning we summited at 1602 m. We rose above the clouds to the very peak of Mt. Fyffe. A sea of clouds awaited us, and the sound of the wind at that alititude mimicked the crashing of the waves on the beaches far below us. Not to be crude, but my ass and legs hurt like hell.

Mt. Fyffe from ground level

summiting. (>_<) the mountains behind are the southern alps. its another gajillion hours to get ontop of that.

In God and Nature we learned that if one dominates nature then they must also support the domination of women. Considering that I raped that mountain (^_^) its concluded that I'm anti-ecofeminist. hah.

sweet as! (kiwi for awesome, cool, fine by me)

post-birthday celebrations

i am officially twenty. it seems to have gone by so quick, it only seems like yesterday that i was blowing the candles of my first "-teen" birthday. but to celebrate before stepping into the doors of adulthood, we had a week of fun and irresponsibility (what was once known as ISP week).

i'm twenty!!!

the weather's warmed up considerably, now that the first day of spring has come and gone. despite the freak wind storm we had yesterday, we run around barefooted and delight in the sun's rays just a bit too much. last week we were given off to dedicate to finishing the bulk of our ISP papers. but in between research and analysis here's a list of stuff we did: slept on the porch, banana nutella crepe's, mickey mouse pancakes, the transformation of the staircase into a super slide, long bike rides, eggs in a basket, skipping stone's past the animal park, labryindth, fort building, paint balling, trips to the candy shop, gas station magnum bars, real life-pac man, mortal combat, mario kart, whale watching, cliff hiking, ultimate frisby...a whole bunch of spontaneous, irresponsible stuff, to commemorate the end of being a teenager.

banana-nutella crepes

the labyrinth

we also experienced our new zealand homestays this weekend. i got placed in a farm family with tommy and matt. my farm family consisted of an elderly couple, 3000 sheep, 150 cattle, 30 hens, 20 dogs, 2 cats, wild deer, wild goats, and a billion sandflys. i actually don't know how else to describe it.

the 3000 acre farm (or part of it)

i've been assessing all the damage done to my body from this trip. after paintballing and the fact that i'm not graceful like a swan i've counted three minor scratches, 13 bruises (i currently have 8 bruises on my body-i look like a battered drug addicted wife), and probably a three digit number of sand fly bites and scars.

paint balling!

on sunday we celebrated my birthday for real. the staff had prepared a spa night in my honor, Los Ramos Spa. ha. full service spa with massages, facials, mani/pedis, haircuts and fun. on monday we celebrate bry's birthday and went paintballing for the second time. and on tuesday we had laura's birthday where we had euro-trash fashion night. lol. today we have a break. but tomorrow is thanksgiving dinner, and on friday we celebrate professor Brett's birthday!

euro-trash runway show

i guess this is the cliffnotes version of what i've been doing for the past three weeks. i'll try to update more frequently, considering that i'll be back in the states in three weeks.

embers

please pray westmont's campus. the fire is surrounding westmont college and there's 1200 students evacuated in the gym. we don't know much about it here in new zealand. but we're constantly praying. so if anyone has updates please email.

westmont college update

failing forwards

three parts to relational excellence:

1) to be at your cerebral best
2) to be at your conversational best
3) to be at your compassionate best

we shouldn't take a part to sum up the whole. agreed?

in other news: i enjoy dandelions way too much

confetti

we came back from our "spring break" (-technically fall according to the northern hemisphere) this afternoon. i travelled around in a campervan around the south island for the past nine days. (^_^) i had heaps of fun. <-- that's a terrible understatement.

for catherine's birthday we played capture the flag in the dark. we also had confetti cake. i don't know why i'm still up...tomorrow we have class and my rooms a mess. i have yet to unpack. i'm ready to pass out.

but here's a list of places we hit up: christchurch, arthur's pass, greymouth, punakaiki, franz josef, fox, wanaka, haast, queenstown, te anau, milford sound, invercagill, the caitlins, dunedin...that's the best i can do for now.

cheers! (mind me...i just want to go to bed)

dskfkdsjfkdlsfj

it's 4:42 am. me, nissi, and leah (i love them!) are up studying for our god and nature exam. i'm coked up on coffee and we're taking a break. hfjhsdjfhkdjshfasds ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. we're heading on our adventure soon :] here's to my 3rd new zealand all nighter. weeeeeeeeeee.

we're craZzzyyyyshdakjhdas.

lol. i'm tired.
+ catherine. she hates studying too. ( i love her too ^_^)

edit 7:01 am: so i'm still up. just about ready to hurl like i always need to when i stay up too late. BUTTTT at 6:00 we decided to be spontaneous and we biked to the beach for the sunrise. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. i'm a little light headed, and i cant feel my fingers or toes. weeeee. i've watched bread rise for the past 9 hours. okay :] bye.

affluenza

why hello. if i had time to i would write a beautiful anecdote on my afternoon as a kernel, with my friends popcorn and tortilla. but that's the most you'll get of it.

we are half way through God & Nature, week 1. theology. hmm. i had my second new zealand all nighter last night with bridget.

we'll be in search for the delightful cadbury chocolate factory next week. yumm. 70% cocoa, tiramisu, creme brulee chocolates. + more.

and i never had a chance to post on environmental literature week. but i assure you that it was amazing. it was me bridget, sara, and catherine. not to be cliche, but it was an adventure of a lifetime.

4 girls - 60 km - 30 lb packs - 3 days

i've always thought that there isn't a place prettier than Hawaii. but New Zealand proves me wrong every time. i wish i could post more pictures, but this one will just have to do for now. i'm in love all over again.

abel tasman

mayflies

it's wednesday and the weekend's only two days away. standing between me and my weekend is my giant scientific paper on invertebrate biodiversity in longitudinal distributions in blue duck stream. i need to crank out five plus pages by friday morning, but of course here i am procrastinating [i've finished zero sentences so far].

but there is no other news other than class because for five days straight we're living, breathing, and eating stream ecology. but here are the weeks mid-adventures:

so of course its 18 degrees celsius out but i've developed this super human immunity to the cold in new zealand so i prefer to walk around in shorts and slippers. we went out to blue duck stream on monday and i'm just in jeans and slippers walking around the stream collecting my samples. come tuesday morning i've got billions of itching bites on my feet. i haven't put one and two together so for sampling on tuesday afternoon i decide to wear shorts and slippers to the stream. while at the stream i suddenly have a terrible urge to go so i head over to a bush and relieve myself (^_^). now it is wednesday and i have more incredible itchings-rashes on my feet, legs, thighs and buttocks. *SIGH* lesson learned - i'm developing a reaction to some native plant in the bush therefore gumboots and rain pants for me next field session.

leah and I spent about four hours last night measuring biodiversity in our stream samples. you can only count so much mayflies, stone flies, and oligochaetes until you go crazy. hundreds of limpets were fine. all the dead exoskeletons are not. marine > stream by a tenfold. we watched equilibrium while counting to pass the time.

my not so friends

okay. i lied there is news other than stream ecology: 1) i dislike rhubarb (sp?) 2) i really like bananas 3) my long lost journal was returned to me! 4) and i love daffodils

yeah. i got fat. -so what. (:P)

blue duck stream.

long overdue

the week after we came back from samoa we had our marine ecology class. classes that week were quite long. class was basically from ten to six with an hour break for lunch in between. but it was great fun: scientific lab writeups, field days at four in the morning, abalone diving (>_<) - the water was freaking cold, and an endless amount of time spent on measuring ornate limpets. ahh, the sense of accoplishment one feels at the end of five days of nonstop work. but i skipped out on environmental literature to backpack for nine days [more on that after i get a good nights rest]. i'm just really excited to sleep not on the ground tonight. but here's a few from marine ecology week.

4 am wakeup calls

snowcapped mountains and quadrats

going abalone diving

"cats eye" - [i love this kinda stuff!]

sweet samoa

There are no words and pictures to justly describe my experiences in Samoa. One, because I am extremely lazy and tired, two, because two weeks is way too long to make an accurate blog, and three because I do not have the vocabulary nor the photography skills to capture every taste, touch, sight, smell, and feeling experienced on this trip. But here's my futile attempt to gather my thoughts and adventures into one blog.

Luckily I color code with my highlighters--

Departure (sixteen hours): I didn't sleep the night before time travelling. I procrastinated my essays way too much. Bad idea. We left New Zealand Saturday morning (4am) and arrived in Samoa on Friday night (10pm). Besides getting motion sickness on the drive to Christchurch, going to McDonalds for $0.33 ice cream cones, buying cheap Toblerone, and eating a kiwi (with the peel) I slept through most of the travelling. As we flew over the Pacific the world burned, if only you knew.

last sunset

Upolu (two days): We were greeted at the airport by Chris-skinny, full body tattooed, tiny red lava lava wearing Samoan. He leid us as soon as we got off the plane. I don't think many of my friends have ever been leid before (^_-). They were sooo excited. We stayed at Tatiana Motel in Apia for the weekend. Accomodations were homely. Heidi described it as "a prison with pretty sheets." Me and Allison's room was barren and concrete with a window. But it really wasn't that bad. It was an experience. Apia was humid, hot, dusty, and crowded. But we braved the heat and did all our lava lava and souvenier shopping at the market. Then we cooled down at Palolo Deep, a protected marine reserve where we snorkeled and I got my slippers stolen (T_T). Its okay... I settled for $2.00 slippers from the market which worked just fine.

the most venemous marine snake in the world - maybe

Safua Hotel (eight days): From Apia we took the ferry to Savaii, the largest but least populated island in Samoa. Safua Hotel is Chris's home, definitely an upgrade from Tatiana Motel. From Safua Hotel we did most of our sight seeing--Lava fields, Peapea cave, Virgins Grave, Village ruins, the most westernly part of the world, gi-freaking-normous blow holes, cliff walks, rainforest/jungle walks, Pulemelei mound, Palauli waterfall, and the volcano hike. All our tours were lead by Warren, a 78 year old sarcastic Aussie retired geologist who fed us biscuits after each outing. I really liked him. Every day we swam at the fresh water pool, ate 2 tala double ice cream cones ($1=2.5 Tala), woke up to roosters at four o' clock am, and had 5 million pieces of toast. Some random stuff--Kava tastes like dirt, a grown man named Silver taught me how to french braid, I jumped off another 40 foot cliff, Samoan flying foxes are really rare and we saw lots of them (^_^), I can make a legit basket from a coconut palm, we found magnetite in bulk, my right pinky toe nail fell off, coconut juice in a coconut does not taste like coconut in a can. And a funny--Leah and I we're headed to the market to do a little bit of shopping. So we wave down a bus and get on, its pretty crowded but we manage to find a seat. Next thing I know more people are getting on the bus and this middle aged woman pulls me onto her lap and sits me there till we reach the market. I'm freaking out and feeling a little bit violated, she's smiling way more than she should be with her hands wrapped around me. I swear my lava lava's coming a bit undone. But later I found this is culturally acceptable. Dodgy (Kiwi for sketchy)!!! Sigh..this could go on forever.

fire!!!

coconuts are tasty when its 90 degrees out

for Oa, sweet savaii

Faga Village (four days): After the week was over we were dropped off in Faga village-pronounced 'fanga'. It was here that we had most of our cultural clashes and experiences. The village is located right by a lagoon. Our host family situated us in a beach fale-an open hut right over the beach. Our host mom, Oa, spoke limited English and barely heard a word I said. That was...challenging. She fed me and Hannah cup of noodle, american hot dogs, fried fish, taro, and mystery soup. I'm currently sick to my stomach for some odd reason. More random stuff--Kava still tastes like dirt, stars touch the horizon, don't go snorkeling when its low tide-(i got trapped in coral >_<), just leave the giant yellow and green spider in peace, mystery meat is really bad for you, tea=lipton with twenty scoops of sugar, collected handfuls of hermit crabs, all the men at the plantation carry machete's-don't ever go alone, and sea cucumbers excrete their guts. Fia Fia--On our last night our host family got us all dressed up for the fia fia ceremony. Hah! of course I'm stuck with the green and red puletasi. I looked very native. It was a celebration of song, dance, and community. I really don't know how else to describe it. Loud, lively, intense, intimidating, happy happy.

rich's samoan brothers

fia fia!

Arrival (twenty-four hours): an hour ferry trip from Savaii to Upolu, a seven hour wait in the airport, a four hour plane ride to New Zealand, three hour layover in Auckland, an hour and a half plane ride to Christchurch, two hours in Christchurch, and lastly a three hour drive to Kaikoura. I'm home.