Going Coast to Coast

No, this has nothing to do with the Sam Adams song for the few of you who even know who that singer is. Instead, it has to do with my weekend starting in Dunedin on the Pacific Ocean (east coast) and going to Fiordland and the Tasman Sea (west coast).  This one may be long, so let's get started (but at least read the P.S. at the bottom). And I haven't gotten picture formatting perfect, yet, so sorry!  Working on it still!

We began on Friday morning at the ripe hour of 6am--the sunrise in Dunedin was beautiful!  Unfortunately, the forecast for our trip was not.  Like last weekend, this one was calling for steady rain Friday and heavy rain Saturday.  Our plan was to hike up to the Luxmore Hut along the Kepler Track (one of NZ's Great Walks) in Fiordland National Park on Friday night.  Sounds eerily similar to last weekend, right?  Well, luckily we had daylight this time--sorry, I was willing to sacrifice going to class in exchange for hiking in the daylight.  And, there's no such thing as bad weather, just improper clothing.  This time, equipped with a waterproof pack cover and rain pants (I had neither last weekend), we hit the trail head around 10am.  For this trip, there were 5 of us--myself, Jeanne, Craig and Abbie representing America and Graham being the lone Canadien.  Oh, I forgot to mention our other companions, the hundreds of sandflies (NZ's version of a mosquito) at the trailhead, but luckily, they stayed behind in the car park.  I guess they are a sign of summer approaching, though!

Anyway, enough rambling.  The trail to Luxmore Hut begins in the bush, but climbs up above tree line with a

2,250ft elevation gain over 8.5 miles, which the sign said is expected to take 6 hours.  So, off we went.  There were drizzles along the car ride and it was cloudy at the trailhead, but no rain for now.  Shortly after entering the bush, that changed.  Just as expected, a steady rain came down, but luckily, the trees helped protect us.  It's a great thing NZ has this hut system because a forecast like this would've most likely forced us to cancel a tent-camping trip.  Regardless, we continued, had a wet lunch break and broke tree line around 2pm!  As we were exiting the bush, the clouds opened and the rain cleared for the final 30 minutes of our walk!  Hint: you'll notice a trend.  However, we made it to the hut in just under 4 and a half hours, so we were feeling great!  Well, actually we ached.  We ached a lot for a group of five 20+ year olds, of which 4 (all but me) are or were NCAA D1 athletes.  Craig and Jeanne ski at Colby College in Maine, Graham skis at St. Lawrence in NY and Abbie did play field hockey prior to back surgery for St. Lawrence.  Anyway, after a short snack and stretch, we went to explore the Luxmore Caves.  By this point, the rain had begun again, but the caves were only 10 minutes

away and, obviously, covered.  So, we went in and it was really neat!  You are free to go as far as you want and explore as much as you want, but there are signs warning you that it can get dark and don't touch stalactites or stalagmites.  When we were done and got back to the cave opening, we were welcomed by a beam of light coming through--the sun returned!  Hint: start catching the trend.  With the clouds broken, we took the opportunity to catch a few photos of the area around the hut.  It was stunning!  The mountains surrounding the hut were so jagged with Lake Te Anau just below.  Anyway, we went back to the hut, relaxed, met the others staying there (1 girl from Dunedin and 2 English couples), lit the wood stove, hung our wet stuff to dry and made dinner.  For the rest of the evening, the clouds would come in and block all views, then clear for just a few minutes, so we could snap pictures.  After dinner, we lit the wood stove and all decided to sleep in the common room in front of the fire, rather than in the cold bunk room, so we dragged our mattresses (foam pads) out and played some

cards then were in bed by 9pm.  Yes, 5 college kids, in bed by 9pm on Friday night.  And boy did we sleep--at 8am, 11 hours later, the sun was shining in our faces as we finally awoke from a deep sleep.

After an oatmeal breakfast and a long stretching session, we were off to conquer Luxmore Peak.  We weren't going to do the entire Kepler Track, due to deep snow and not having enough time, but we did want to wander up to the peak, which is the highest part of the track.  Some friends went last weekend and said the conditions were good enough to make it up.  So, with the sun out, we wandered up.  Leaving our heavy backpacks at the hut felt great!  We made it up to the summit in just over 1 hour, with much more of

the same cloudy-then-clearing weather.  In no rush, we sat at the top for a few minutes, then wandered back down and as soon as we left, of course, the clouds came in heavy and eliminated all views.  If you haven't caught on to the hints yet, we hit the weather clearings perfectly for everything on this trip!  We ate lunch, stretched again, and talked to two new folks who showed up.  Both ladies, in their 40s or 50s, were breathing heavily and in running clothes, but there's no way that they could've possibly just run up the trail that five athletic college kids just struggled with, right?  We got up in 4.5 hours, when the sign said it took six.  Well, they did, and it got even worse.  They kept coming.  There ended up being 7 or 8 people, between 30 and 50, who had just run up the 8.5 mile trail in 2.5 hours.  Boy, did we feel dumb.  One proceeded to tell us that she once ran the entire 36 mile trail in just over 10 hours!  So, we stretched our aching, decrepit bodies in awe and began to walk back to the car park, which took only 3.5 hours, but

of course the group of runners passed us again going down.  We got back to the car just around 4pm and were going to drive towards Milford Sound (2hrs away) to camp because we had to be at the sound at 9:30am for a cruise.  This time, we were in a tent.

Since luck was with us, we got to the campsite during a break in the rain and set up the tent alongside a river with occasional glimpses through the clouds at the surrounding peaks.  Once the tent was set up, the rain returned, so we sat in the car and ate dinner with the sandflies who were waiting for us at this campsite too.  Anyway, it worked out fine, and we were in bed now at 9pm.  Unfortunately we didn't sleep as well, and had to get up at 7:30am.  We finished the drive into Milford Sound, which is an amazing drive.  The sound was even better.  I'm not sure I can describe it in words, so I've attached several photos and a video.  All I can say is it was definitely worthy of a World Heritage Site status.  Imagine sheer mountain cliffs raising 2,000m out of the water (and they told us they continued down to depths of 200m below the water) covered

with waterfalls, as this is one of the planet's rainiest regions.  By the time we actually got to the sound, many of the clouds have lifted and we had a beautiful day in Milford Sound standards.  We saw seals and dolphins, who loved to swim in front of the boat and put on a show!  They are so playful!!  Oh, and the sandflies were here too, but one sign told us that the Maori (native New Zealanders) believed god put sandflies here to make sure that humans wouldn't stay too long and mess up the area.  Anyway, Milford Sound with Mitre Peak is often the iconic image of New Zealand and it lived up to its name!  Milford Sound leads out into the Tasman Sea and is actually a fiord, not sound, because it is glacial, but the original settlers didn't know that.  Our cruise took us to the Tasman Sea, then we drove across country back to Dunedin (it only takes 5 hours in this country) in time to make fajitas for dinner!  Milford Sound may be the most beautiful place I'd ever seen and this was one of, if not the, best weekends I've had here!  Couldn't be happier.

With all that said, if you're still with me, next weekend I am off to SeaFest in Kaikoura on Saturday, then swimming with dolphins (and potentially whales if they come through) on Sunday in the Pacific.  Oh, and my final touch rugby game is Wednesday.  I do have a two sliced fingers, not from opening tuna this time, but from opening a bottle (I'll let you decide the type of bottle).  I may be dumb at times, but you can't say I'm

not experiencing life!! P.S. The time changed here, so we are now 1hr ahead of what we were before and 1 hour further from all of you, so keep that in mind.  And Happy Birthday Grandpa Schaefer and hope you're having fun in NoLa ma and pops.  Hard to believe I've been here over 3 months and only have 2 months left.  We only have 2 weeks of class left and I've never been so upset to be done with school... Last random thought: I actually liked coffee for the first time, which I'm not sure is good or bad, but maybe it was just because it was free and I loaded it with sweetener...Captions: Lake Te Anau, Luxmore Hut, Luxmore Cave, Luxmore Summit (2), Mitre Peak/Milford Sound, Waterfall in Milford, Milford Panorama, bottlenose dolphins!

Wild Weekend

Well, this weekend was an adventure.  Our plan was to hike 2hrs to Aspiring Hut on Friday, then Saturday try to climb up to the Liverpool Hut if the snow was passable, then come back Sunday afternoon.  Simple as.

However, there were 9 of us (and it wasn't even majority Americans--1 S. African/Kiwi, 3 Germans, 4 Americans, 1 Kiwi!), and we had to wait for one of them to finish their group project before we could leave on Friday.  They said it should be done around 1--we got going around 2:45pm.  It's a 4.5hr drive to the trail head, but is a simple hike so should be easy even in dark.  Surprise!  There are fords (or stream crossings) along the road and our car sits fairly low.  Keep in mind it's been pouring all day (and still was), so the river is running high.  We got across the first one and evaluated if it was safe to continue.  The sign saying "beware, river may rise and become impassable" didn't apply to us, so we continued on.  One girl who had been here before said it's only 3 ford crossings anyway.  After the 7th crossing (2 of which were close), we made it to the trailhead at 9:00pm--the ideal time to begin a hike.  Suited up in our rain gear, we tramped off into the darkness and should be at the hut by 11:00.

Maybe the trail is easy if it's daylight and you stay on it, but somehow we veered off.  We, of course, didn't

know that because it was dark.  Our route, the more adventurous one, included walking through the river about 10 times, in some areas that were nearly knee-deep. So, our legs and feet were drenched from that and our upper halves were drenched from the relentless rain.  At 12:30am, we made it to the hut! There was a wood stove and dry wood, so we lit a fire, hung our wet stuff, talked a little bit, and went to bed.

After waking up, and seeing it was still raining, we had to decide our plan for the day.  No one was really interested in going to the higher hut since most of our stuff was still wet.  We also were worried that if the rain continued (it was supposed to die off Saturday night and rain hard Sunday) the stream crossings would be challenging to walk through and drive through.  So, we decided to walk back and head home to be safe.  Interestingly, when you stay on the trail, it was in fact easy, and there are bridges to cross the stream (one was maybe 20m from where we crossed, but was too dark to see it).  The skies finally cleared a bit to see the beautiful mountains surrounding the valley we were in.  Some people jumped in the river, then we continued on.  We decided to try to take pictures with a sheep, so we actually cornered one and tackled him to get some pictures. Relatively easily, we made it back to the car with no problem and saw that our wrong turn the night before was maybe 200m into the tramp.

Now, we took a rental car and some other people's car (named "Russell") on this trip--not my car because the others took it elsewhere.  Apparently, Russell has been nothing, but trouble.  After getting through all 7 fords, and driving about 5 minutes more on a dirt road in the middle of no where, Russell shut off.  They weren't sure why, but apparently this is common, so they let it sit for a minute, then restarted it.  No more then 2 minutes later, the hazards came on again, and off went Russell.  This time, he was apparently making noise.  He was bone dry on oil, but luckily they noticed before it destroyed the engine.  So, we were to take the rental car to town (about 30min each way) to pick up oil, but a few minutes in we passed a farm, so I went up to the house and met an extremely friendly farmer who gave us oil.  So, we started up again.  About 3 minutes later, Russell stopped again.  This time, the engine oil temp gauge was going through the roof.  For some reason, the coolant was flowing into the radiator.  We were right outside the same farmer's house now, and he came out and helped and we got the radiator cooled off eventually.  In the mean time, we checked the transmission fluid--bone dry.  However, after all this, we made it back to Dunedin, trouble-free around 11pm with a great story to share (and a free Sunday, which I will spend playing rugby on the beach)!  Captions: Aspiring range (2), NZ's wildlife!, Rob Roy Glacier

Mid-Week Surprise!

So here's a rare mid-week blog post!  I started playing touch rugby last week and we got our first win this week, but let's back up to 9am.  Yes, on my day off, I got up at 9am.  If that's not exciting enough, my friend Will and I went scuba diving at Aramoana Mole, about 30 minutes from town where the harbour meets the ocean.  I did bring my camera, but forgot my sandwich that I made and left on the counter.

Will is a dive master (the highest certification besides instructor), so I felt comfortable going out alone with him.  We went and picked up our gear and headed out and were all dressed and ready to go in the water by 10:30am.  It was pretty sunny out, so all good.  There are 3 wrecks, two of which are dive-able, out there.  The water was a brisk 11 (50) degrees, but we were all suited up in a two piece wet suit with boots and a hood!  So, we'll summarize the first 2 dives together.  The first two were both on the same wreck, but different areas.  I was a little unsure what it would be like after diving the Great Barrier Reef, but it was incredible!  Not nearly as many fish (and really no colorful ones), but there is so much stuff growing on the rocks and ship parts.  It was covered in nudibranchs, nudibranch eggs, some blue things that I'm not sure what they were, we saw a Conger eel, heaps of starfish of all different sizes and colours (I almost said shapes, but they were all the same shape), kelp and corals.  It was amazing!  One part in particular was like a cage, almost, of boat pieces.  They were large enough to swim through but it was just poles covered in plants and things all around you!  Kind of claustrophobic, but not as bad as kelp forests!

Now, dive three.  The infamous one.  We were really enjoying the day and it was really nice out, so we went in to the new (and closer) wreck and planned to swim back.  I had the camera, so we dropped down, all good.  We were swimming around, just as planned, and I was happily taking pictures of the side of the boat.  Then it happened.  I saw it coming right at me, at full speed, jaws wide open!  This sounds unreal, but trust me, it was real.  Surreal, but real!  No, it was not a shark, though, but enough to scare me.  Instead, as I turned my head, maybe 10ft to my left was a full grown sea lion coming straight at me, maybe 20ft underwater.  In case you weren't sure, it was bigger and a faster swimmer than me.  And yes, its mouth really was wide open.  So, just

like you're taught to do, I panicked!  The sea lion quickly shot straight up to the surface then back down, circled me twice, and left.  Will is from California and has over 200 dives, so he is kind of familiar to these ferocious creatures, but not me.  I yelled, or at least, the best yell you can do with a regulator in your mouth and went straight to the surface and on the rocks.  Not sure what that was going to do because sea lions can climb on rocks way faster than me, especially with fins, but I did it.  However, he was gone, or so I thought.  Will couldn't find me under water, so he came to the surface, all excited and yelled "did you see that sea lion?!?"  Of course I told him my dramatic story and he had a similar one and then I saw it swim right along the rocks just in front of me, then stop, pick its head out of the water, give me a 5 second stare down, then it was gone.  This time for good.  It was incredible.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture.  After talking to Will, some people on shore, and the folks at the dive shop all said that it's common for them to come up and play with you.  Also, they are very curious, so they will sometimes even put their teeth on you to see what you are, but not actually bite.  Guess I know for next time to stay calm and video it--just like you're taught.  Anyway, we went back down and finished our dive and had an incredible time.  We also saw Paua, which is an edible, big shellfish, but we it's illegal to take them with scuba gear on and you need a knife.

So that was my Wednesday, how was yours???  Anyway, I got back, went straight to rugby, got our first win, went to work on a group project, and now its 10:30pm and I'm writing a blog before getting back to my project.  This weekend, I am off to Mt. Aspiring National Park for some tramping and camping! 

Moral of the day--I, in fact, CAN, survive from 9am-5pm without eating (although I desperately missed my sandwich)!

Laid Back Weekend

For a change, I actually hung around town this weekend.  Before that though, on Wednesday, we talked to the local dive shop and a friend and I are hoping to dive at a ship wreck near town this week!  After that, I went to one of the beaches nearby and got some cockles (clams) off the beach and mussels off the rocks for dinner--delicious!!  Then, Friday night, we just watched a movie because a lot of us decided to run a 6K going on Saturday morning to support kids with cancer.

Saturday afternoon, after doing my good for the day, I participated in the 2013 378 Leith Street Beer

Olympics (this is where any of you from work stop reading and go to the next paragraph...).  Our team's theme was Brunchin in Bathrobes, but I had some odd sleep sack onesie thing.  Despite a valiant effort, we finished 3rd of 5.  However, we would've been 2nd if we didn't forfeit two games.  Anyway, it was a great chance for all of us to bond and have a great time for a few hours, except that everyone was falling asleep around 9pm.

Sunday, after sleeping in a bit and watching some football and the Caps preseason game, I went for a bike ride on the Otago Peninsula.  This was on Lonely Planet's top 10 cycling routes in the world!  It was beautiful--rolling green hills (spotted with white sheep) and then blue water and golden beaches on both sides.  If only it were a little warmer, it would've been ideal.  Anyway, it was 3.5 hours--I forget how I did a 3-day bike trip because my bum was sore!  We drove to the highest point, then rode along the top with scenic vistas for a while before dropping down to the coast and ending on a beach.  There were some seals there, but no penguins.  We did see tons of birds though, including terns (Caspian and White-Fronted), Paradise ducks, Pied Stilts, Variable Oystercatchers, White-Faced Herons and heaps of boring seagulls. It was fairly leisurely as some people on the trip couldn't bike very fast, but the guide was good about letting the faster people go ahead and there were some tougher stretches!  After spending 30 minutes on the beach, we rode back off into the sunset--literally! Unfortunately, my "good" knee is starting to hurt, so I will take it easy this week and last week I pushed it more than I have been.  Oh, and I forgot my camera, sorry!

 It was a very relaxing weekend and as of now, I've got no plans for next weekend, but am looking for something to do!

Kiwi as!

So, kiwis tend to add "as" after things to emphasize it.  The most commonly used phrase is "sweet as," which actually just means "ok, cool."  However, if something is very stereotypical of New Zealand, it's "kiwi as" and, therefore, my weekend was kiwi as.

I went on a field trip to the Catlins area, which is just a part of New Zealand south of Dunedin with lots of native temperate rainforest, pretty beaches, and lots of waterfalls and very few people.  The field trip was good--we just got to walk around and look at different ecosystems and discuss them.  It reminded me of my Pingree summer field course, except no quizzes/tests/essays.  Oh, and the food was delicious!  Plus, we got 3 main meals, and 2 "snacks" during the day, all with desserts, so yes, it was another rough weekend for the healthy eating.  However, two highlights (and I only took one picture all weekend) were the first module we were on the beach and all the sudden a herd of sheep came storming through.  They really are everywhere! Second one--this morning we were on a different beach after a rainy night and there was a bright rainbow coming up from the ocean, over the beach and dropping back into the rainforest.  Very cool, eh.  It was also a great chance to meet new kids in my class and almost all Kiwis as I'm one of 2 Americans and add heaps of new Kiwi-words to my vocab!  Last thing I noticed--there are heaps of Canadians here.  4 of our 10 lecturers/demonstrators (in American, known as professors and TAs) were either born in Canada or spent a significant part of their lives there!

Next two weekends I will be doing shorter trips and just hanging around town I think, then the travelling picks up!  After checking bank accounts, my wallet needs a little rest!!

Mid-Semester Break Down Under!

Wow!  Those 9 days were crazy and went fast, but were so much fun and I can't believe it's back to class,

working out, and writing papers tomorrow.  Anyway, I will try to summarize 9 days in Australia in one readable post (yeah, right)! Well, let's begin.

What I learned in Sydney...

1. Money goes fast there.  Very fast.  My friend told me it's the most expensive city in the world for American exchange students.  However, Sydney gets better!
2. Apparently, Aussies are pyromaniacs.  I saw fireworks both of my first two nights in Sydney.  Not sure why, but they were pretty!
3. There's a difference in being unsure where you are and being lost.  Sometimes, a bite to eat and a deep breath help tons... story to come later
4. Travelling alone is relaxing, but terrifying and freeing, but lonely.  There were times when I really enjoyed doing things at my own pace, and not waiting or planning around others, but other times were it would've been great to have someone.  My friend did come to the city with me one day!
5. Thank god they speak English.  It would've been rough in a completely new city, alone and not understanding the language!
6. Sydney is a beautiful area!  The harbour was gorgeous with the bridge and opera house and there are lots of nice beaches around as well!
7. There are tricks for transportation, but it may take a few days to learn.  For example, walking is free and when you're 20 and alone, walking distance can be huge!  Also, no one verifies that you're a New South Wales student, so I could get student tix for half price on bus/train/ferry!
8. Surfing is awesome, but hard.  I was able to get up on the learner board and feel comfortable renting a board from our rec centre and going to try it here!  However, spending the entire day in my sandy/wet bathing suit was not wise or comfortable..
9. There's nothing wrong with being out of your comfort zone.  Yes, this is related to numbers 3 and 4.
10. There are people from MD everywhere!  I met four people in Sydney from MD just because one guy wore a shirt with the MD flag from Green Turtle in Ocean City!

So, basically, I got off the plane in Sydney and my phone didn't work (surprise!) and I had no Australian cash, and had no idea where I was going.  That's where I was out of my comfort zone and being alone sucked, but them speaking English was amazing.  After I took a breath and relaxed (and ate), I figured it out and it was all fine.  Really after one day, I figured stuff out and didn't have much trouble at all.  The harbour is really pretty with the Opera House and Bridge.  My friend and I discussed how it's one of those places you'd see pictures of, but never really expect to be there.  It was a dream come true, really.  Also, if I was rich, I could really spoil myself in Sydney with $40/meals and hotels with Ferraris and Aston Martins out front.  However, even on a budget, I had an incredible time there and feel so fortunate to have gotten to see that city!  Plus, I went and spent a day hiking in the Blue Mountains National Park (so many loud birds!) and another day at a wildlife park--koalas, kangaroos, and wallabies are awesome!!  And, I visited Olympic Park, where the 2000 Summer Olympic Games were played! Very neat area with tons of arenas, stadiums, artifacts, etc!

Then, Wednesday, I headed even further north to Cairns and met up with Megan Bethge from home, who is studying abroad about 4 hours south of Cairns (pronounced "cans" by the way).  Thursday morning we got

picked up and spent 3 days on a 26.5m boat, the Taka, on the Great Barrier Reef and scuba dove 12 times.  How incredible!  We saw blue-spotted sting rays, white-tipped sharks, thousands of different types of fish including lionfish, turtles, giant clams, crustaceans, starfish, tons of types of coral.  It was unreal how much lives there!  Two of the most memorable dives were the second night dive (yes, it's completely dark except your flashlight), when there were 3 sharks circling around a group of fish just right in front of us and also swimming with Wally, a humphead Maori Wrasse, who loves to have his lips scratched if you stick your hand out!  Oh, and the food on the boat was extremely good too, so I was sure to get my money's worth out of each meal!! There are a few pictures here and a video, but I have many more and some of them are on facebook or can be shown when I come home!  They take ages to upload, so that's why it's limited, sorry...

 Now, after an 11 hour layover, in which I got 5 hours of sleep on an airport bench, I am back home!  A few final thoughts on Australia:

1. "Day pack" is a loose term.  I made it 9 days with just a school-sized backpack.
2. I, in fact, CAN go 9 days without a hoody--it was a struggle though...
3. Sunscreen only works on the places where you put it--my inner arms and shins wish I figured that out sooner...
4. The girls in Australia are much prettier than in NZ.
5. This whole trip has seemed like a dream--seeing Sydney and then scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef!  I can't get over how fortunate I am to have had the chance to do both!!!

I learned tons from this trip and had a spring break that will be very hard to top!!!