A Great Quote

Here's a great quote I stumbled across while on my recent reading binge (3 books in 4 days! wow...never done that before...that's what happens when you're driving for 10 hrs/day!). I feel as though I can somehow deeply relate to this one:

"I grew up exhuberant in body but with a nervy, craving mind. It was wanting something more, something tangible. It sought for reality intensely, always as if it were not thre... But you see at once what I do. I climb. " ~John Menlove Edwards, "Letter from a Man"

WEST (wet) COAST!!!

(Photo Above: view from Lake Matheson...a picturesque, mirror lake that reflects the big boys: Mt. Tasman on the left, and Mt. Cook on the right...what a gorgeous spot to study forests!)

Here's a brief rundown of what we did for the past five days of forest ecology roadtrip:

Long drive from Kaikoura thru Lewis Pass...but SNOW! big, classic snowball fight...it was perfect

Spent two days exploring and being creeped out by Waiuta...the gold mining ghost town we stayed in....creepy, 800m deep mine shafts, still-standing but abandoned and run down barber shop with hair still on the floor!, glowworms on the side of the trail at night, etc...way cool but really scary!...and of course the forests surrounding Waiuta were perfect for forest ecology

On our way south down the west coast, stopped at Franz Joseph Glacier, a GIGANTIC slab of ice coming down from the southern alps...lots of great exploration and photos from here...i'll show you soon!

Spent a day going ultralight on the Copeland Valley Track...which links the East and West Coasts over the ridiculously dangerous Copeland Pass...we didn't quite make it that far because of daylight restrictions, but the rivercrossings and swingbridges were CLASSIC!

Walked for HOURS along the gorgeous Maori Beach of Bruce Bay, reading Dove, the story of a 16 yr old who sailed solo around the world...pretty nice spot to read a sailing biography!

Drove back through pouring rain, but took Arthur's Pass home...which meant stopping at CASTLE HILL one last time...saw a man an his wife cross a slackline rigged 60 ft off the ground between two free standing boulders! yikes!

Back in class now...finishing Forest Eco today, then two days of final project presentation prep...then weekend of presentations, a few days of debrief, then exploring the top of the south island with kate for five days...yay!

Last Class!

Well, we're winding to a close here in Kaikoura...super sad. After my first day of Forest Ecology, though, I'm thrilled about what lies in store for the next two weeks. Lots of field research and time in the forest, observing the interdependence of species, not to mention seeing all kinds of critters that only exist here...nowhere else on earth!

Here's a brief low-down of upcoming hightlights:

Wed: AM forest walk, then afternoon whale watch off kaikoura!!! yes please!

Thrus to Wed: travel to and from West Coast of S. Island, through Reefton, past the glaciers (day trip!), eventually Bruce Bay (Hicktown NZ...hehe), then hopefully a long daytrip up to the famous welcome flat hot springs on the copeland valley track, under Mt. Cook!

Thurs on: final presentation prep for Integrated Student Presentations, presented in a community-wide symposium that saturday

following week: debrief week: recap of all we've covered, deep cleaning the convent, final small group activities and trips, etc

that's all for CCSP, folks!

Brief Overview of Spring Break...photos soon!

Greetings once again!
Here's a quick low down of the 9-day spring break I just had...buckets of fun!:

Rental (small!) car pickup in Christchurch. Drove to Mt. Cook for MOUNTAINEERING adventure.
In Mt. Cook, climbed Mueller Hut route through scree and snow to a snow bivy sight. Woke up Easter morning for a gorgeous sunrise over Oceania's highest peak...what an Easter start! spent the day going over mtneering skills as we traversed toward the Annette Plateau and Mt. Sealy...gorgeous views of Cook and the Mueller Glacier far below...great photos soon!

Left Mt. Cook, traveled through Twizel on the way down to touristville, i mean Queenstown area. We hated the hecktic insanity of Queenstown, so we didn't even stop! Camped in Twelve Mile Delta, right on the beautiful lake...spent a half day in Glenorchy, then Arrowtown, going on random river crossings and long explorations into the moutains and forests...fantastic scenery.

Spent just over a day in Wanaka: caught another outrageously pink sunrise, I climbed at Hospital Flat...a great, classic spot we had to ourselves that day! Met up accidently with another CCSP group in the town of Wanaka, and eventually traveled north toward the West Coast.

Most epic night of my life...0 minutes of sleep and a very miserable, cold, wet night in the sleeping bag...enquire later...it's a long story. Drove through the west coast...miserable stormy weather with many landslides, road closures, and floods. Crazy...

Sucked it up and went to a hostel in Hokitika to dry out and sleep well for once. Toured a jade/Greenstone carving factory the next day...amazingly unique.

Drove back through Arthur's pass and nearly ran out of gas...spent an afternoon doing solo time in the foreign landscape of Castle Hill again, I was bummed not to climb.

Camped near Oxford by this cool river gorge that night...a quick morning drive to Christchurch to attend a church service at the astounding Christchurch Cathedral...and return the rental car...

so many little side trips and funny stories mixed in there that words can't justify...i hope the photos do a little better job later!

Mt. Cook!

We arrived in Mt. Cook National Park after the sleepness night. As we entered the Southern Alps, we drove right into a beast of a storm...howling wind and bitter cold, stinging rain. That's the condition we set up our tents in...and we crawled in later that night, cold and wet. The day itself was exciting just because we were in Mt. Cook Village, close to the tallest peak in Oceania. We couldn't see a thing the first day, though, but made the best of it by going to the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre, a tribute to his first ascent of Everest and his tremendous influence in mountaineering and antarctic exploration worldwide. We also went to the world's most southern planetarium and 3D show. Way cool...

the following morning, we woke up to a GORGEOUS day...the sun was glistening on the peaks that we didn't even know were there. Pictures won't do it justice...did a fantastic day hike up the Hooker Valley to the Hooker Glacier at the bottom of Mt. Cook. OUTSTANDING!!! Such a contrast from yesterday too! Spent the entire day researching the mountains and planning a mountaineering trip down there next month! Yeah!

EDORAS!

After a crazy day on Avalanche Peak, we took the rental station wagon off road the following day on Audra's pilgrimage to Edoras, where the LOTR set was constructed. This beautiful craggy hill, Mt. Sunday, is set in the middle of an enormous valley surrounded by the snowcapped peaks of the Southern Alps. We took the liberty to cross some private land, cattle ranges, and sheep grazing hills. We had to ford quite a few braided streams, thigh deep, and go through ankle deep manure, but finally we arrived on the summit of Edoras for a nice, well earned lunch! We left after a ton of photos and a few hours to head to gorgeous Lake Tekapo, where the sunset over the southern alps lit up this tiny stone church, the Church of the Good Shepherd. AMAZING. car camped and didn't sleep at all that night, but nothing could dampen the day!

Arthur's Pass!

This was one of the most action packed days of my life! Woke up at 5am to drive/hike/climb up a boulder and watch the sunrise with Kate. We then picked up Kat and Audra and headed for the Pass, only a 35 minute drive from Castle Hill. We got some maps and info at the iSite, then bundled up and took the Avalanche Peak trail...it was INTENSE...crazy waterfalls, steep sections, and no level or semi-level ground to the summit, at nearly 2000 meters. Insane views...awesome exposure. We had perfect weather, too. Took Scott's Track down the peak and ended up in the tiny town of Arthur's Pass Village...we got some great pub food, our first eating out experience all week. I took the night shift, driving all the way down to Mt. Somers that night. LONG, but epic day...pictures don't do it justice!

CASTLE HILL!

We spent 2 and 1/2 days and 2 nights camping in Castle Hill, one of the most outlandish "moonscapes" I've been in. As a climber/adventure junkie, I fell in love with the place. Here's a brief rundown of our stay there:

Monday: arrived from Christchurch in the afternoon, wandering in awe of the over 20,000 enormous limestone boulderings (torrs as they're called), some of which are larger than freestanding 18 story buildings!

Tuesday: climbed and bouldered for a while, enjoying the heat of the day. Set up an ENORMOUS single-rope rappel, probably over 140 feet off a freestanding boulder. Went to this long (over an hour without the light of day), narrow, freezing cold, deep underground cave that we walked upstream, sometimes chest deep with our headlamps. Way cool, literally. Set up a big rock climb at night under the stars...it had this tricky frog-move crux to get off the ground and this commiting dyno jump to reach the top...a blast!

Wednesday: drove/hiked to the top of a big boulder to watch the moonset and the sunrise with Kate. Picked up Kat and Audra at the campsite, and drove out early to a full dayhike at Arthur's Pass. Yay!

ELECTIVE WEEK overview.

So this past week, Kate, Kat, Audra and I were the only students not taking Environmental Literature. We opted to go on an amazing roadtrip in the middle of NZ's south island. We departed Kaikoura, rented a car in Christchurch, drove to Castle Hill for climbing, bouldering, rappeling and caving, then to Arthur's Pass for an INTENSE day hike/climb up Avalanche Peak. We then took the rental station wagon off-road to Mt. Sunday, AKA the film location of Edoras, capital of Rohan in Lord of the Rings. Stunning location and scenery. We then made our way out to Mt. Cook Village, nestled right under the monsterous Mt. Cook and the Southern Alps. OUTSTANDING location to finish our week. I'll going more in depth with stories and pictures in each of my following blog posts!

cheers!

Some New Experiences

Howdy again...still experiencing technical difficulties uploading photos from Samoa...sorry, I'll keep working on that. Last week was an awesome week of a class entitled "God and Nature"...lots of reading, writings essays, making class presentations, etc. Very informative though, and I gained a totally new perspective on how God relates to what He created, and therefore how we as humans should relate to it. Surfed twice (once with my proff!) at Mangamanu, a beautiful right-breaking swell about 20 minutes north of Kaikoura. Great times, big waves, and cold water! Stream Ecology started this week, with a proff. from Indiana. He's lived in over 10 countries, and has a thick Italian accent...pretty awesome. We've been out in the streams already collecting benthic macroinvertebrates like mayfly larva and dragonfly nymphs. yum! Did some analysis on these indicator species, then will be taking a "midterm" and "final" for a 5 day class! Basically, so much has happened that I just need to upload photos, but i'll keep working on that. How's life in the big USA? All i hear about it from here is that things are falling apart at the seems...will it even be there when i fly home in May?! shoot me an email if you'd like to elaborate


blessings!

Back in NZ/Samoa Thoughts

Well, gang, Just arrived from an arduous 48hrs of no sleep and travel from a remote Samoan village to home here at the Old Convent in Kaikoura. Samoa was great, although many aspects of my two week trip took me quite by surprise. I had no idea, somehow, that Samoa is very much a third-world country as far as poverty and lack of infrastructure and development. I felt out of my comfort zone pretty much the whole time, especially with the language barrier. I knew minimal Samoan, and my Samoan friends new very broken English. The first week of the trip, we were all together as a CCSP group. We stayed together in Safua, and took day trips around the volcanic island of Savai'i on which we lived. We visited blowholes, volcanic craters, saw flying foxes, cyclone damage, lava flows over entire towns, etc. Very informative week, especially in a geoligical sense. The second week was more relaxed, constituted mostly by downtime in my village homestay. I filled in the time by snorkeling, climbing coconut palms, journaling, and tilling taro in the inland plantations. Very good trip, but exhausting after a while because of the lack of communication. Food was very rich...lots of meat and starch of all sorts...It's good to be back home in NZ...photos soon!

SAMOA DAY!

Last blog for at least two weeks:
the schedule...
2-21 Arrive Apia at 2:50 am, sleep a few hours, morning snorkeling, group dinner
2-22 Depart Apia, ferry, arrive Safua, beach trip, chill
2-23 Lava fields day trip
2-24 blowholes day trip
2-25 free morning and cliff walk
2-26 culture day at safua hotel
2-27 pyramid, waterfall, and tafua crater...fia fia musical performance
2-28 arrive in Faga
3-1 to 3-4 Faga village homestays
3-5 ferry
3-6 depart Apia 2:40 am
3-7 Arrive Christchruch 10:20 am


YAY FOR SAMOA!!! bringing the snorkel and hammock for sure! pics in a few weeks!

W. Samoa Tomorrow!

Tomorrow I leave for two weeks in Samoa as part of Sustainable Community Development. Can't wait
Looks like we'll be snorkeling a lot, hangin' with the Samoan's, touring the two-island nation, and doing home stays right at the beach....wait, i'm getting a GRADE for this?!

yesterday, I woke and departed at 6 am to catch the morning low tide. John, Nate and I did a few hours of intertidal data collection on 4 species of chiton...look em up...they're cool! We spent the rest of the day crunching data, drawing stupid Excel graphs, and formulating trends in the numbers. NOT COOL! I had to go for a venting run, and it was great, right as the sun came out and Mt. Fyffe emerged from the rain clouds. Dinner, then more project...blah!

Woke up early for devos and Downpours of rain. John, Nate and I did our 30 min. powerpoint presentation on our findings, listened to every one else, had lunch. did some sink laundry, canned peaches, and packed for SAMOA!

latest and greatest!

greetings once again!
today marks day three of Marine Ecology...lectures are over and the remaining half of the week is being spent on field research and group lab reports

monday's rain didn't dampen the brief roadtrip we took to a seal pup colony 20 minutes north of kaikoura. we then stopped at meatworks and graveyard, two world-class surf spots to see how high-action waves affected coastal ecology (and surfer's satisfaction!), we capped the afternoon off with another brief observatory walk of the peninsula's intertidal platform

tuesday was filled with lectures on policy and management of natural resources in the AM, then afterlunch we conducted a 3 hour, on the reef group project, sampling intertidal species and gathering data

wednesday: synthesis of data collected yesterday into trends and worthwhile analysis. also composing student led project ideas for tomorrow, a 6AM start to all day collection of info from the area. my project: the correlation between several species of intertidal chiton to the substrate and zonation of which they are in integral part...not bad, huh? it will take me diving for chiton off the reef early tomorrow morning! good'on ya!

this afternoon, a few hour freediving session searching for paua, the large local abalone species off kaikoura peninsula


YES PLEASE!

The latest!

hey all...here are some of the latest things i've been up to!
snorkeling in south bay...COLD WATER with no wet suit!
swimming tons of laps at the local pool...amazing view...had the pool to myself!
mountian biking through rivers and getting SOAKED!
(studying)
going to a sweet, 15 person anglican chruch in town
valentine's day cookie decorations
enjoying the sun after almost a week of heavy downpours
etc!

this week: marine ecology with afternoon labs at the kaikoura reef! yay! this is how school should be!!!

Long Awaited Photos!

hedgehogs! they're everywhere!

a little kiwi hospitality; "kee-vin" gave us a sweet ride, let me shear his sheep, and stay in his mountain lodge where he gathers the sheep from his 3000 alpine acres! thanks, kev!

my solo summit left me with a sweet view...reading Hebrews 11 here and Lord of the Rings was quite the epic experience!

here we are on our first overlook from the kepler track....(avove)

our campsite had a nice view of Lake Te Anau...

Class, Kiwis, and Mountains!

Greetings one and all...life's only getting better here on Mt. Fyffe Rd. A lot has happened since i last posted, namely a lot of exploration of the surrounding area, mingling with the kiwis, shearing sheep, downhill biking, staying in "hutaways", etc. The weather has been quite hot, with peak temps around the low 90s. Unusually hot, but it's supposed to rain for the foreseeable future, which is good, because we're in a bit of a drought. My one class this week, Sustainable Development, has been very informative. I've never had to THINK like i do for this class, it's always been a regurgitation of knowledge and facts. Class is all about synthesis and application, which is delightful, especially in light of last semester's ultra-heavy science load. I hope to get some photos up tomorrow, on our internet binge day (limited internet refreshes the 12th of each month). I love you all, and can't wait to share photos and stories with you personally...whenever that may be!

for now, I'm loving where i'm at!

Kia Ora!

AT KAIKOURA!

hi agian all...it's been whirlwind of adventure since last i wrote from Christchurch....here's a sampling of the things i did:

-13hr bus ride from Christchurch to Te Anau, the walking capital of the world

-did the 3 day Kepler Track...saw amazing scenes, waterfalls, caves, people, etc

-13hr bus ride back to Christchurch

-day in Christchurch: went up Cathedral Spire, watched street performers, went in Canterbury museum, visited botanical gardens etc

-met with 11 others at CHC airport...first day of Creation Care study program...drove to our new home at the old convent in Kaikoura

-went on 2 runs, 4 bike rides...LOVING THIS TOWN...more exploration/orientation today!

ARRIVAL!

made it after two days of flying through Auckland and then to Christchruch! hurray!

great day!

loaded up camping food supplies at Pak n Sav

checked in to Cokers Backpacker (hostel)

wandered the city of Christchurch

saw Christchurch cathedral

watched punting on the Avon River

saw Rutherford's lab

went through the extensive art exhibits

all is well! love the people and landscape of NZ, but wait until tomorrow...an all day trip to Te Anau where the real adventures begin!

ARRIVAL! Day 1: Auckland then Christchurch

greetings once again! alive and well in sunny Christchurch. After a LONG two days of constant travel, I find myself in the quaint "city" of Christchurch. It's large for NZ but has a very small-town feel. I love it...but really can't wait to leave first thing in the morning for an all day bus ride to Te Anau...where a 3 day backpacking adventure on the Kepler Track commences.

Todays Highlights:

groceries from Pak N Sav

watching punting on the Avon River

wandering though the lovely Christchurch Art Museum

seeing Earnest Rutherford's Lab

etc!

Until the follow up, Cheers!

DEPARTURE DAY!

the excitement commences as we leave tonight from LAX! only a 17 hour voyage across the pacific, we'll be touching down in Christchruch around 8 am on Tuesday (their time)

peace!

hello Caleb

We wish you a fantastic experience,Love M and D

Go Ahead!

Feel free to post any comments on this blog...I will not have internet access at school, so it will be checked rather infreqently (~once a week), but I'll do my best to keep in touch!

Thanks