Hangin' Round

So I haven't posted in a while- mostly because I haven't done too much of interest lately. It's exam time here and varrying exam timetables are preventing us from taking any trips. Lots of people are leaving mid November so it already feels like everything is winding down even though I have at least another 2 months here. Also the weather has been questionable lately as well. We were going to do the Routeburn hike a few weeks ago, but crazy snow above the ridge line in Fjiordland prevented us from doing so... that is unless we wanted to be caught in an avelanche, and thats not too advisable.

The rain is on and off- one minute it might be sunny and clear sky and then 5 minutes later it could be gray and raining. So I've been golfing when its nice, watching movies and reading when its not so nice, studying a little, and BBQing as much as possible. I had my first exam yesterday and I think I dominated it pretty well. I don't have another exam until Nov. 9th so I have a while to do something or go somewhere if it works out with other people. Hopefully, I'll be able to do the Otago central rail trail, which is a 3 day biking trip, or another hike before my final.

Then after all the finals are done we begin another epic adventure. Starting on Nov. 12th (My birthday) Xander, Julie, Rob, and I are doing the Milford track and then immediately after that Xander, Rob, and I begin our 7-day hike in Stewart Island and then after that up to Christchurch for the Muse concert, and then some hiking around Mt. Cook. In December we're hoping to do the Cascade Saddle trail and loop it into part of the Rees/Dart track. Lots of hiking coming up that should be good. But for now, I'm mostly just hanging out.

Peace.

In Dunedin

This weekend we didn’t go anywhere. Xander went kayaking at Lake Manapouri with a trip set up by the university. We went golfing on Thursday and didn’t do too much on Friday. On Saturday I shot a rally in the Octagon for the Critic, which was pretty cool. Then Rob and I prepared for a BBQ in our back yard. We filled up the propane tank for our grill and although a little wobbly it works just fine. It was a real nice day but as we started grilling the sun went away. It didn’t rain though so we still had a good time grilling chicken and burgers. We dragged one of the couches outside, but contrary to castle street tradition we did not burn it. The backyard works really well for grilling out and hanging out in when it’s nice so we’re going to try and pack in as much grilling out there as we can.

Today Rob and I got up early and watched the New Zealand –vs- France rugby world cup game. New Zealand lost, which means they’re out of the tournament now since it was a quarterfinal match. So people here will be depressed and griping about it for a while. But my spirits were not dampened in the least thanks to Illinois beating #5 Wisconsin. We are now going to be in the national rankings for the first time in a very long while. The first time Illinois is good at football while I’m a student and it’s the year I’m abroad. Oh well- reading and looking a pictures on espn.com and the Daily Illini website shall have to suffice.

The pictures are from some random things I’ve done around Dunedin lately.

End.

Queenstown Trip #2

This weekend I went to Queenstown with Xander, Heather, Julie, and Fred. We drove up on Friday afternoon and got into our hostel. We changed into quasi-out-on-the-town clothes and went out to dinner at Monty’s (the Monteiths version of the Speight’s Ale House). So we had a good pint of Monteiths each- I had lamb shanks for dinner… delicious. Then we all went to the casino invigorated the night with a glorious couple hours of blackjack. I won $100. Xander was down $110 at one point but came back to win $50. Exciting times.

On Saturday we got up early and had free breakfast at the hostel. Plans of skydiving or doing a LOTR horseback tour were delayed due to conditions. Luckily it wasn’t really raining so we went up the gondola and did luge rides- something I did with Arcadia last time I was in Queenstown. This time we did 5 rides each and mostly went on the scenic track since it had wider lanes so we could race each other and pass more effectively. After that we got lunch and then Xander, Julie, Fred, and I went and played Frisbee golf at the Queenstown course- the first one I’ve seen in NZ. It was pretty sweet and interesting- one of the holes was between a tree and a rock, some were just poles you had to hit, and others were actual baskets. Good stuff though. We hung out for a while just tossing frisbees around like good college students and then headed back to the hostel and met up with Heather. Then we went out to dinner at a Chinese place with some other people from Otago who we bumped into earlier in the day. After that, Xander, Julie, Heather, and I went to minus five bar- a bar made completely of ice. We drank cocktails out of glasses made of ice. It was unique but kind of disappointing, not as well executed as it could have been. Then we went out to a regular bar and got 2 for 1 beer mugs.

Sunday Heather got up early and went on a horseback ride and the rest of us played the front 9 at the frisbee golf course again. After lunch Xander, Julie, and Heather went to go sky diving. I didn’t go because I deemed the cost too much and I couldn’t justify it after already paying an exorbitant amount of money to bungee jump. So I drove out to the Kawarau bridge bungee jump place with Fred so that he could jump. I took pictures for him and also did video for an American couple we met in the hostel earlier in the day. Then Fred and I went back to the Monteiths place we ate at the other day and tried pints of their Summer Ale, which debuted for the season that day. It was good stuff. Then we walked around the harbor for a while and walked up the beach a ways. Still waiting for Heather, Xander, and Julie to get back from Skydiving we went back to the Monteiths place and got free BBQ and more cheap pints. Finally they got back from skydiving, which was of course apparently amazing, and we all headed back to Dunedin. I stayed up late doing a history paper. Yet another great weekend. Typical.