full circleWednesday, December 17, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
home
home
the driveway
garden patch - lettuce and rocket
the backyard
my rooms on the top left corner. sorta.
first day of spring
the classroom
the kitchen
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!
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 JosefTowards 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.Wednesday, December 3, 2008
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
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
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