So right after I got back to Christchurch, intern friend Jordan flew in to Chch as well.
I had to work the next day, so we hung out and watched the Olympics, of course, until Saturday. While I was at work, Jordan was looking in to things he wanted to do in the area and we had talked about renting a car to make travelling easier. Both of us are 20, so it wasn't easy for us to even find a place that would rent to us.
So, Saturday morning, we take the bus out to where all the rental places are and we thought we knew where we were going, but really we didn't. So we walked. And walked. In the rain. A jogger came by and we stopped her and asked for directions. She wasn't really sure where the place we found online was, but gave us her best guess. She kept running and we kept walking. A little bit later, she comes back and said she realized that it definitely wasn't wear she thought it was and so she called her young son and had him look it up online and she was so incredibly helpful. So we finally make it to the place that will rent to us, only to find out that they don't have any automatics and neither Jordan or I can drive manuals. So we keep walking. We stopped in another rental place not too far away and asked them and they wouldn't rent to us but were kind enough to call a place that would and reserve a car for us there. So we walked there and Finally, got the car.
We drove downtown and took a tour of the botanic garden, which was extensive and fairly historic for NZ. Then we took a bus tour of the red zone. Much of the CBD is still cordoned off while repairs and tear downs go on from the devastating earthquakes that started almost two years ago. The red zone had gone much smaller since I'd been there and the development was very promising. The tour took us by the famous cathedral, which is currently a point of controversy, but was a lovely building, even as it was falling to bits. We also looked around in part of the museum nearby.
Then we put our hard-earned car to use and drove to Akaroa, a French settlement on the peninsula. It was a cute little town, but much of it was shut down for the day, which was approaching its end by then. The sun set around 5:00 or quarter after, so we still had time left to watch more Olympics!
Sunday we drove around Chch going lots of places and taking lots of pictures (which I'll post sometime, I'm sure). We went to the New Brighton Pier, Lyttleton, and Lydia Street!
Jordan returned to Auckland, I finished my final paper, and the next and final week began.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Stewart Island, Part 2
I'm going to do my best to finish recording my adventures, but I'm afraid these next posts, whenever I write them, will be more hastily done than before. I want to put this blog to bed before the semester starts, but we'll see how it goes (12 days!).
For dinner that night I had blue cod! I thought that I don't like fish, but when it is deliciously fried then I really do! Now that I've had blue cod fresh from the sea I think my standards are going to be higher than before. Mark, from the mussel farm, introduced me to some other people in the pub at the hotel and I got to know the locals while I ate. The Olympics were on the TV in the corner while we told jokes and played pool. The fisherman liked some of my fish-themed jokes and they were pretty impressed when I sunk the 8 ball, even though it was too soon. If you ever play pool in NZ, know that the stripes and solids are large ones and the wee ones, respectively.
The next day I arranged for a water taxi to take me to Ulva Island, a small island within Paterson Inlet. The island is nature reserve and most of the water around it is protected too. There weren't many other tourists and I was the only one going to Ulva so after the water taxi dropped me off, I was the only person on the entire island! Except for a few rats that are being exterminated, I was the only mammal on the island! There were some paths on the island that a small information book guided me around, and I learned about history and nature of the island. I saw many of the birds on the island, and they weren't afraid of humans. They were hard to take pictures of, but they were very active and some had lovely songs. Until sometime in the 1920s, a family lived on the island. Whenever mail from the mainland arrived on Ulva, the family would raise a flag, and all the other people living around the inlet would row or sail to Ulva to collect their mail and chat with their neighbors.
I spent a few hours walking around the island, but my favorite place was Sydney Cove. Sydney Cove has golden sand, clear blue waters, and...a rope swing! The rope did not swing far out over the water when the tide was out so I didn't get very wet. That was probably my favorite thing, possibly in all of New Zealand. An island to myself, sun shining, wind in my hair, bird calls surrounding me, and flying through the air without a care in the world.
That afternoon I flew from Stewart Island to Invercargill on an itty-bitty plane and flew from there back to Chch on a plane slightly bigger.The airport was the same as the post office, the gate was a van that doubled as air-traffic control, which drove to the top of a hill that had a small landing strip. After a passenger, a box of fruit, and a few duvets were unloaded, myself and a second passenger boarded. I climbed on the wing of the plane to get to the door. The pilots gave the safety talk, which took about 10 seconds, and then flew for about 15 minutes over to Invercargill. Once there, I boarded the plane to Chch, which had, like 50 whole people!
That night, intern friend Jordan arrived in Chch to commence adventures in Canterbury, which will be explained later!
For dinner that night I had blue cod! I thought that I don't like fish, but when it is deliciously fried then I really do! Now that I've had blue cod fresh from the sea I think my standards are going to be higher than before. Mark, from the mussel farm, introduced me to some other people in the pub at the hotel and I got to know the locals while I ate. The Olympics were on the TV in the corner while we told jokes and played pool. The fisherman liked some of my fish-themed jokes and they were pretty impressed when I sunk the 8 ball, even though it was too soon. If you ever play pool in NZ, know that the stripes and solids are large ones and the wee ones, respectively.
I spent a few hours walking around the island, but my favorite place was Sydney Cove. Sydney Cove has golden sand, clear blue waters, and...a rope swing! The rope did not swing far out over the water when the tide was out so I didn't get very wet. That was probably my favorite thing, possibly in all of New Zealand. An island to myself, sun shining, wind in my hair, bird calls surrounding me, and flying through the air without a care in the world.
That afternoon I flew from Stewart Island to Invercargill on an itty-bitty plane and flew from there back to Chch on a plane slightly bigger.The airport was the same as the post office, the gate was a van that doubled as air-traffic control, which drove to the top of a hill that had a small landing strip. After a passenger, a box of fruit, and a few duvets were unloaded, myself and a second passenger boarded. I climbed on the wing of the plane to get to the door. The pilots gave the safety talk, which took about 10 seconds, and then flew for about 15 minutes over to Invercargill. Once there, I boarded the plane to Chch, which had, like 50 whole people!
That night, intern friend Jordan arrived in Chch to commence adventures in Canterbury, which will be explained later!
Friday, August 10, 2012
Going Home
So I'm behind on my blogs and hopefully I'll be able to update more next week, but for now I will tell you...
I'll be home Sunday morning at 8:30 am!
That is Monday at 12:30 am NZ time, so I have just over 2 days before I'm home, but today and tomorrow I'm in Auckland, exploring the city with my friends. Today we climbed to the summit of Mt Rangitoto - a volcano in the middle of the harbour!
See you soon...
I'll be home Sunday morning at 8:30 am!
That is Monday at 12:30 am NZ time, so I have just over 2 days before I'm home, but today and tomorrow I'm in Auckland, exploring the city with my friends. Today we climbed to the summit of Mt Rangitoto - a volcano in the middle of the harbour!
See you soon...
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Stewart Island, Part 1
This week I had so many adventures, I don't even know how I'll ever share all of them. I spent last weekend hanging around at home, relaxing, nothing too exciting. The real fun started on Monday when I set off for Stewart Island (SI). My supervisor used to be a fisherman and lived on the island for a long time. His ex-wife still lives there and owns the hotel and its pub so I was going to have a nice place to stay there while I enjoyed myself and visited the mussel farm that raises the green-lipped mussels used in Bio-Mer's products.
Bright and early Monday morning my supervisor drove me over to his other business, a crayfish (lobster) company and I sat in the passenger seat of an empty truck on it's way down to Bluff to pick up a load and bring it back to Christchurch. The truck driver was Brian, a nice guy. He was happy to have someone change the CDs for him (ZZ Top and CCR). After almost 8 hours on the road, we finally got to Bluff. The plan was that I would take the ferry from Bluff to Stewart Island, but because of strong winds the ferry was cancelled. Brian got me booked at the same hotel as he was in, just down the street from the ferry terminal and then he drove us out to the beginning of Highway 1 with this international street sign. The hotel served us a huge dinner and we watched some coverage of the Olympics.
Tuesday morning came and the wind had died down only slightly. The ferry was going though, so I was too. Foveaux Strait was rough. Even the locals and people that make a business being out in boats thought it was rough. The wind was especially strong, but it is usually a choppier stretch than most of the ocean because it is relatively shallow and because the Antarctic and Pacific Oceans are mixing. I managed to hold on to my breakfast, but the one hour ferry was about 50 minutes too long for my taste. Once I got to the island I went to the hotel and spent the next couple hours lying in my room, watching the Olympics, trying to recover my appetite. I had a small bite for lunch and set off to explore! I followed a couple short tracks and was amazed by fauna and flora. The beaches all have stunning views with other small island dotting the horizon and the plants were thick and green because SI, like other parts of NZ, is considered a temperate rain forest. There was an abundance of native birds because the island doesn't have as many predators as the rest of NZ and many of birds on the island are actually distinct subspecies!
The next day I woke up early and met Nudge, Mark, and Nanu at the wharf, put on some giant gumboots, and set off for the mussel farm! To get there we took the small boat out into Patterson inlet and transferred over to a larger boat that stays anchored out there. From there we took that barge over to Big Glory Bay where the mussel lines are anchored. Nudge showed me how to steer the boat, but it was really hard! We went in a couple circles so I gave the controls back pretty quickly. The first couple hours at the farm I sat upstairs to watch the guys at work and take pictures of the bay in the morning light. After a couple hours of relaxing I decided to see the mussels up close so I went down to the deck and helped the guys out.
A machine would remove the mussels from the rope and sent them out on a conveyor belt. Then, we sorted through the mussels and threw out the ones that didn't belong. As we sorted through them, they mussels were gathered in large bags on the deck, and when we finished the prescribed section, those bags were emptied into another machine. This machine put the mussels back around a cleaned rope and covered them in a thin white sock, which would break up in a year or so, but by that time the mussels would have re-attached themselves to the rope. The mussels are also spaced farther apart than before so they can grow larger by the time they are harvested in 3-5 years time. Mussels are a lucrative business, but it is not easy to get started. The rope that the mussels grow on costs about $10 a meter, and it only lasts long enough for two harvests.
I sorted mussels for a couple hours, but when they finished that for the day and switched to re-stringing the mussels, I stayed out of the way and mostly just took more pictures. Then we took the barge back to the boat, which we then took back to the wharf. Before the sun went down, Mark drove me around the island with a running commentary. I think we covered almost all of the 27 km of paved road. Then we returned to the hotel/pub for dinner.
I think this is long enough for one post, so expect part 2 in the next few days.
 |
| Beginning of Highway 1 in Bluff |
Tuesday morning came and the wind had died down only slightly. The ferry was going though, so I was too. Foveaux Strait was rough. Even the locals and people that make a business being out in boats thought it was rough. The wind was especially strong, but it is usually a choppier stretch than most of the ocean because it is relatively shallow and because the Antarctic and Pacific Oceans are mixing. I managed to hold on to my breakfast, but the one hour ferry was about 50 minutes too long for my taste. Once I got to the island I went to the hotel and spent the next couple hours lying in my room, watching the Olympics, trying to recover my appetite. I had a small bite for lunch and set off to explore! I followed a couple short tracks and was amazed by fauna and flora. The beaches all have stunning views with other small island dotting the horizon and the plants were thick and green because SI, like other parts of NZ, is considered a temperate rain forest. There was an abundance of native birds because the island doesn't have as many predators as the rest of NZ and many of birds on the island are actually distinct subspecies!
A machine would remove the mussels from the rope and sent them out on a conveyor belt. Then, we sorted through the mussels and threw out the ones that didn't belong. As we sorted through them, they mussels were gathered in large bags on the deck, and when we finished the prescribed section, those bags were emptied into another machine. This machine put the mussels back around a cleaned rope and covered them in a thin white sock, which would break up in a year or so, but by that time the mussels would have re-attached themselves to the rope. The mussels are also spaced farther apart than before so they can grow larger by the time they are harvested in 3-5 years time. Mussels are a lucrative business, but it is not easy to get started. The rope that the mussels grow on costs about $10 a meter, and it only lasts long enough for two harvests.
I sorted mussels for a couple hours, but when they finished that for the day and switched to re-stringing the mussels, I stayed out of the way and mostly just took more pictures. Then we took the barge back to the boat, which we then took back to the wharf. Before the sun went down, Mark drove me around the island with a running commentary. I think we covered almost all of the 27 km of paved road. Then we returned to the hotel/pub for dinner.
I think this is long enough for one post, so expect part 2 in the next few days.
Whirlwind
I have been surprisingly busy this last week and unfortunately bad about updating this blog. The plan is that I will update it more this week and next week to catch up. For now I thought I'd share briefly what I've done.
I went to Bluff, Stewart Island, enjoyed nature, worked a wee bit on a mussel farm, went to Ulva island, rode in some boats, flew on some planes. That was all Monday through Thursday.
Then my intern friend Jordan flew in to Chch. Saturday we rented a car, drove to the CBD, saw the garden and the redzone, including the cathedral. Then we drove to Akaroa. Sunday we watched a building implode and then drove to the New Brighton Pier, Lyttleton, and all around town.
Today (Monday) it's back to work, until Thursday. Friday morning I fly to Auckland, explore the area with a couple of intern friends, and then Fly to LA Saturday evening. I'll arrive in Indianapolis at 8:30 am Sunday morning (Sunday 12:30 am NZ time) and that is less than a week away!
What fun!
I went to Bluff, Stewart Island, enjoyed nature, worked a wee bit on a mussel farm, went to Ulva island, rode in some boats, flew on some planes. That was all Monday through Thursday.
Then my intern friend Jordan flew in to Chch. Saturday we rented a car, drove to the CBD, saw the garden and the redzone, including the cathedral. Then we drove to Akaroa. Sunday we watched a building implode and then drove to the New Brighton Pier, Lyttleton, and all around town.
Today (Monday) it's back to work, until Thursday. Friday morning I fly to Auckland, explore the area with a couple of intern friends, and then Fly to LA Saturday evening. I'll arrive in Indianapolis at 8:30 am Sunday morning (Sunday 12:30 am NZ time) and that is less than a week away!
What fun!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Music
So I gave in and started using Spotify to listen to music online a while ago.
I've been making a playlist on Spotify of music by people from New Zealand and music by international musicians that is particularly popular here compared to the States.
Spotify is in cahoots with facebook and I can't figure out how to share the playlist without facebook, so go to my page and if we're friends you can find it there.
If you want a truly multi-media experience, listen to it while you read the blog!
I've been making a playlist on Spotify of music by people from New Zealand and music by international musicians that is particularly popular here compared to the States.
Spotify is in cahoots with facebook and I can't figure out how to share the playlist without facebook, so go to my page and if we're friends you can find it there.
If you want a truly multi-media experience, listen to it while you read the blog!
North Island Adventures
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| A map! |
"Greetings, loved ones. Let's take a journey."This blog is a departure from my usual format, because words are boring and pictures are awesome!
 |
| Palmerston North |
Friday
6:30 Take shuttle to airport.
7:30 Fly from Christchurch to Wellington.
8:30 Take city bus from airport to bus departure point. Walk around aimlessly, kill time by stopping in a cafe and ordering chocolate caramel muffin and Earl Grey. Kill more time by watching one-footed pigeons fly around the railway station.
10:40 Board bus.
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| Statue outside of rugby musem |
1:15 Arrive in Palmerston North, walk around town, visit small museums on Maori and European history of the area, mirrors, Manawatu river, and Rugby. Succeed in kicking a small rugby ball through miniature posts. Be pestered by elderly museum guide who is the grandson of Charles Monroe, the man who brought rugby to NZ, and is apparently important enough to have a bronze statue on the street.
5:00 Meet Ray and Micah for dinner at kebab shop.6:00 Eat licorice with Micah.
10:00 Fall asleep.
Saturday
7:30 Wake up
8:00 Go with Ray to Sue's house (Sue being a lady who Ray works with at Toyota, who has friends in Napier)8:30 Go with Ray and Sue to wind farm look out outside of Palmy
11:00 Arrive in Napier, meet Ian and Sandy, Sue's friends. Walk around Napier and see art deco architecture, as well as old-fashioned cars and people dressed in 1930s fashion.
1:00 Sample fancy chocolate, dark chocolate covered damson plums in liqueur. Have "duck and pork rillettes with onion jam" for lunch.
2:00 Drive around Napier, stopping at various look-outs.
4:00 Go to aquarium, see assorted fish, sharks, etc. See a kiwi bird!
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| Famous building in Napier |
1:00 Fall asleep.
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| Craters of the Moon |
Sunday
8:30 Wake up.
9:30 Eat cake for breakfast.
10:00 Depart Napier.
12:00 Go to Crater's of the Moon geothermal site in Taupo. See craters, fumaroles. and mudpools. Get soaked with Rain.
1:00 Go to Huka Falls. Continue to be rained on.
1:10 Got to Huka Honey Hive. Learn about bee hives and taste several different kinds of honey, including Manuka Honey, which is famous NZ honey, and Five Finger Honey, which is tasty, but rare because it is only produced every 5-10 years.
2:00 Eat at Subway. $5 footlongs do not exist, the cheapest 6" sandwich is $4.90.
2:30 Depart Taupo
5:00 Arrive in Palmerston North.
6:00 Have fish and chips for dinner, with kiwi pavlova for dessert.
7:30 Return to Micah's apartment. Chat and watch TV.
10:30 Sleep
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| Huka Falls |
Monday
4:45 Wake up.
5:20 Board bus to Wellington
8:30 Arrive in Wellington. Have tea and scone. Walk around. Have more tea.
12:45 Fly from Wellington to Christchurch.
2:30 Return to apartment.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
The Great Green North
I've had a nice couple of weeks, but it's time for another trip, don't you think?
I thought so, too.
Pull out your maps, boys and girls, because I am going to the NORTH ISLAND!
I'm flying into Wellington and immediately catching a bus to Palmerston North. There I will do a bit of sight seeing while I wait for my friends Ray and Micah (the two I went to Queenstown with) to get off of work.
Saturday and Sunday we'll be in Napier, which is on the east coast and is supposed to have good weather. I'm looking forward to temperatures in the 60s Fahrenheit. I packed sandals so I hope I have a chance to wear them.
Early Monday morning I will take the bus from Palmerston North back to Wellington and then I'll fly back to Christchurch in the afternoon.
I probably won't be online as much as usual over the next few days, but I'll put pictures up when I get back, so be on the look out for those!
I thought so, too.
Pull out your maps, boys and girls, because I am going to the NORTH ISLAND!
I'm flying into Wellington and immediately catching a bus to Palmerston North. There I will do a bit of sight seeing while I wait for my friends Ray and Micah (the two I went to Queenstown with) to get off of work.
Saturday and Sunday we'll be in Napier, which is on the east coast and is supposed to have good weather. I'm looking forward to temperatures in the 60s Fahrenheit. I packed sandals so I hope I have a chance to wear them.
Early Monday morning I will take the bus from Palmerston North back to Wellington and then I'll fly back to Christchurch in the afternoon.
I probably won't be online as much as usual over the next few days, but I'll put pictures up when I get back, so be on the look out for those!
Sunday, July 15, 2012
What I'm doing when I'm not gallivanting around the country
I have only four weeks left in New Zealand. It's going to be
great to see everyone, but it will be hard to leave this amazing
experience behind. Since I've been working at Bio-Mer for 6 weeks now I thought
I'd share a little bit about what I do here.
Bio-Mer
is a small nutraceutical company that specializes in mussel based health products. For example, you've probably heard that fish oil is good for you
because of omega 3 fatty acids, well mussel oil is similar to that. Bio-Mer's
largest market is in mussel oil capsules which have some amazing health
benefits. Seriously! Do a quick google and you'll see what I mean.I've spent most of my time doing research on product development. I don't want to spill the beans too soon on new products, but I will tell you that I've been looking at ways to incorporate some of the most recent developments in arthritis and cancer treatments into the existing products. It can be quite difficult to research, even using some really nice scientific databases, because not all of the answers are figured out yet for the relatively new area of study. It's difficult, but also very rewarding! Since I've only got one year left of study, I've got a pretty wide background in chemistry, but this research required some serious learning. None of my courses at school prepared me for this particular vein of research, but I knew enough to jump in and start trying. I think I have found a solution to my first research question and now it is just a matter of testing it out. For a variety of reasons that has been put on hold, but in the meantime I've been doing more research on oil purification. It's a big change from college, where the TA or professor can tell you if you've got the right answer. The staff here is pretty small and they keep busy with their own tasks so I've learned to work fairly independently. Everyone is willing to answer my questions when I have them though and sometimes I am even able to answer their questions!
It hasn't all been paper based research, though. Since I've been here I've also done a variety of odd jobs in the lab and in the office. I've learned, somewhat successfully, how to use lab instruments that were completely new to me. I've also seen what it takes to run a business like this, even if I'm not much help with it. Six weeks does not seem like a very long time, but it's amazing looking back at how much I've learned. I can't wait to look back at the end and see everything I have accomplished.
My internship is not what I expected when I first signed-up months ago, but I'm so glad to be here that I don't mind at all. Nothing will be quite like you imagine, sometimes it's better and sometimes it's worse. Even the most mundane things, like working, or talking with my flatmates, or grocery shopping have combined to make this one of the best summers I've ever had.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Queenstown Part 2
So where was I? Right.
Micah and I spent the morning in Arrowtown and got back to Qtown just in time to start walking to the zip line. The beginning of the zip was on the same hill as the skyline gondola, but rather than pay for another ride, we decided we'd take the scenic route and follow the walking path up the mountain. We knew that it would take about an hour and we had just over an hour before our check in time so we headed down the trail. And by "down the trail" I mean "up the mountain." The trail itself was not that long, but it was very, very steep. At points the rocks were cut into steps, but some sections were just dirt trails. The trail was not well marked but we managed to stay with it. About 2/3 of the way there we encountered a very icy section, which was difficult to walk up. We did a lot of shuffling and slipping and crawling. It was not fun. We had no alternative though. We could go back the way we came, pay and wait in line for the gondola and be late or keep going. The walk would not have been as bad if the occasional sign also included a distance. We stopped to catch our breath a few times and the ice slowed us down quite a bit so even though we had time to take it a little easier, we had no idea how close we were. Well, we made it, ten minutes early, no less. With that sorry adventure over it was time to have some fun!
We spent three hours making our way down the mountain on six different zip lines. That time includes waiting for the other people in the group to zip and one 20 minute walk between platforms. Let me tell you, going down was exponentially easier than going up. We were wearing full body harnesses and helmets the whole time, so don't worry. I've always enjoyed zip-lining at camp, but I knew it was shorter and closer to the ground than this one so I thought I might be nervous about it, but instead of jumping off the platform, all you had to do was walk down a set of steps connected to the platform and after a certain point the harness would tighten and next thing you know you're flying. The second time, after the guide explained how to, I went upside down! The lines gradually got longer, but all of them were too short! The last line is said to be the steepest tree to tree zip line and even with a brake line slowing you down the whole way, they estimate that you go about 70 km/hour, or about 44 mph! I had SO much fun. According to the website, the same company set up the zip line in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl, so that's cool! It got to be pretty cold so when we were done Micah and I had hot gelato, which is melted gelato with steamed milk and someone needs to make that a thing back home because, as you can imagine, it was delicious. Dinner that night was at Hell's Pizza, a NZ pizza chain that has some very interesting topping combos. I had wrath, which among other things, included venison peperoni, which, like everything else I've told you about, was delectable.
On Saturday we took a motorcoach to Milford Sound, where we got on a boat, took a two hour cruise, and then got back on the bus to Queenstown. It's a good thing that the landscape between Milford Sound and Queenstown is beautiful because it was about a 4 hour drive. The driver gave some commentary on the way there and told us some of the local history and talked about the wildlife in the area. We saw a few Keas, which are alpine parrots, and on the boat we saw a small colony of fur seals. Milford Sound is not technically a sound and is really a fiord, but I hardly knew the difference. The water was an amazing bluish green and the mountains around it are impossibly steep and covered with bright green flora and around every corner is another gorgeous waterfall. On the way home on the bus we watched The World's Fastest Indian, which is about a NZ man who goes to America to set record speeds on his old Indian motorcycle. It was actually a much better movie than I expected and if you want a small taste of NZ, give it a watch! It stars Anthony Hopkins, and he didn't get the accent right, but that's alright. When we got back we had Indian food, and yep, you guessed, it was delicious. Some of the best naan I've ever had.
Micah and Ray had an earlier flight than me on Sunday so I was left to amuse myself til about 1 in the afternoon. I wasn't too keen on spending more money and most everything in Qtown is expensive so I decided to head into town and figure something out, when I happened upon a lovely little church. I had timed it rather well and the Sunday service was about to start so I joined in. I've never been to an Anglican church before, and it was much different than I'm used to, but it was a nice service. There were maybe 30 people there total and after the service they insisted I join them for tea and cookies so I chatted with them for a while before heading to the airport. My flight was delayed about an hour, but I got some reading done so it wasn't too bad.
All in all, a very fun weekend! After traveling on my own and having to be responsible for everything, it was nice to relax and let someone else hold the map.
Micah and I spent the morning in Arrowtown and got back to Qtown just in time to start walking to the zip line. The beginning of the zip was on the same hill as the skyline gondola, but rather than pay for another ride, we decided we'd take the scenic route and follow the walking path up the mountain. We knew that it would take about an hour and we had just over an hour before our check in time so we headed down the trail. And by "down the trail" I mean "up the mountain." The trail itself was not that long, but it was very, very steep. At points the rocks were cut into steps, but some sections were just dirt trails. The trail was not well marked but we managed to stay with it. About 2/3 of the way there we encountered a very icy section, which was difficult to walk up. We did a lot of shuffling and slipping and crawling. It was not fun. We had no alternative though. We could go back the way we came, pay and wait in line for the gondola and be late or keep going. The walk would not have been as bad if the occasional sign also included a distance. We stopped to catch our breath a few times and the ice slowed us down quite a bit so even though we had time to take it a little easier, we had no idea how close we were. Well, we made it, ten minutes early, no less. With that sorry adventure over it was time to have some fun!
We spent three hours making our way down the mountain on six different zip lines. That time includes waiting for the other people in the group to zip and one 20 minute walk between platforms. Let me tell you, going down was exponentially easier than going up. We were wearing full body harnesses and helmets the whole time, so don't worry. I've always enjoyed zip-lining at camp, but I knew it was shorter and closer to the ground than this one so I thought I might be nervous about it, but instead of jumping off the platform, all you had to do was walk down a set of steps connected to the platform and after a certain point the harness would tighten and next thing you know you're flying. The second time, after the guide explained how to, I went upside down! The lines gradually got longer, but all of them were too short! The last line is said to be the steepest tree to tree zip line and even with a brake line slowing you down the whole way, they estimate that you go about 70 km/hour, or about 44 mph! I had SO much fun. According to the website, the same company set up the zip line in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl, so that's cool! It got to be pretty cold so when we were done Micah and I had hot gelato, which is melted gelato with steamed milk and someone needs to make that a thing back home because, as you can imagine, it was delicious. Dinner that night was at Hell's Pizza, a NZ pizza chain that has some very interesting topping combos. I had wrath, which among other things, included venison peperoni, which, like everything else I've told you about, was delectable.
On Saturday we took a motorcoach to Milford Sound, where we got on a boat, took a two hour cruise, and then got back on the bus to Queenstown. It's a good thing that the landscape between Milford Sound and Queenstown is beautiful because it was about a 4 hour drive. The driver gave some commentary on the way there and told us some of the local history and talked about the wildlife in the area. We saw a few Keas, which are alpine parrots, and on the boat we saw a small colony of fur seals. Milford Sound is not technically a sound and is really a fiord, but I hardly knew the difference. The water was an amazing bluish green and the mountains around it are impossibly steep and covered with bright green flora and around every corner is another gorgeous waterfall. On the way home on the bus we watched The World's Fastest Indian, which is about a NZ man who goes to America to set record speeds on his old Indian motorcycle. It was actually a much better movie than I expected and if you want a small taste of NZ, give it a watch! It stars Anthony Hopkins, and he didn't get the accent right, but that's alright. When we got back we had Indian food, and yep, you guessed, it was delicious. Some of the best naan I've ever had. 
Micah and Ray had an earlier flight than me on Sunday so I was left to amuse myself til about 1 in the afternoon. I wasn't too keen on spending more money and most everything in Qtown is expensive so I decided to head into town and figure something out, when I happened upon a lovely little church. I had timed it rather well and the Sunday service was about to start so I joined in. I've never been to an Anglican church before, and it was much different than I'm used to, but it was a nice service. There were maybe 30 people there total and after the service they insisted I join them for tea and cookies so I chatted with them for a while before heading to the airport. My flight was delayed about an hour, but I got some reading done so it wasn't too bad. All in all, a very fun weekend! After traveling on my own and having to be responsible for everything, it was nice to relax and let someone else hold the map.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Queenstown (Part 1)
This weekend marked the halfway point of my time in New Zealand and to
celebrate I went to Queenstown with my intern friends Ray and Micah.
We flew in Thursday morning and the view of the mountains blew me away as soon as my feet hit the tarmac. Every time. You'd think seeing mountains would be less of a big deal after 5 weeks, but no. Also, these are Different mountains so that's got to count for something.
Queenstown (henceforth called Qtown, for my typing convenience) is
in the southwest of the south island, between the Southern Alps and
Fiordland National Park, and those names should give you a pretty good
idea of the scenery. Qtown sits on Lake Wakatipu and on the other side
of the lake are the Remarkables, a truly remarkable mountain range. They
are the only mountains to point exactly north and south and when the
sun sets behind them the sky turns a lovely shade of purple. The town is
a basically a tourist destination, and with it being school holidays
here and in Australia the town was keeping plenty busy. The main
attraction is the ski fields around the city, but other tourist
attractions have sprung up. Skydiving, bungy jumping, and parasailing
are all popular excursions but I didn't do any of them. The closest I
got was a zipline, but more on that later.
We didn't have many plans for Thursday so we walked around town and
looked in the tourist shops. They all have the same things so after a
while it was just a reason to step out of the cold for a few minutes. I
did buy some sunglasses though. We went to the Below Zero Ice Bar and
enjoyed ourselves despite the low temperatures. There were ice
sculptures, a gas fire in an ice fireplace, and even a little ice hockey
table. Next on the agenda was the Skyline Gondola. The gondola takes
you to the top of the mountain behind Qtown (I think it's technically a
hill, but it looked like a mountain to me) to the Skyline complex, which
has a shop, restaurants, a viewing deck, and a luge track. We had a
good ride around the track in our little gravity powered carts. I came
in last, but we weren't really racing. For lunch we ate at the
Fergburger, which apparently is quite famous, and for good reason!
Every time we walked past the line was out the door but the wait is worth
it.
There were a couple of Mexican restaurants in town, and those are not very common in NZ so we figured we had to put one to the test. I got a duck enchilada with mole sauce and I don't care if it was 'authentic' because it sure was delicious. Our waiter was an American guy from PA that moved to NZ a few months ago instead of going to law school and we had a nice chat.
On Friday Ray went skiing and Micah and I had our own adventures! What we had planned originally was cancelled because of the weather, but there was plenty more to do. We went to Arrowtown in the morning and had a much bigger adventure in the afternoon.
Arrowtown is a small town not far from Qtown which boomed in 1862 when
gold was discovered. Now it's home to local farmers and primarily
tourists. Everything is still set up in quaint little mining town
buildings. Outside of town is a historical site of the Chinese Miner's
Village. I think some of the buildings are reconstructions from the
village that was empty in the 1920s. The Chinese were initially invited
into town for gold mining, but once a large group of them arrived they
were treated badly by the white people and set up their own village
outside of town. Some of the buildings set up were proper houses made of
stone, but some were just sheets of metal and wood stuck in the side of
the mountain. It's a little lower in the valley than the rest of town
so it was few degrees colder and a layer of snow was on the ground. I
don't know how they did it. Micah and I had lunch and bought some fudge,
after sampling quite a few flavors I settled on a chunk of creme brulee
and a chunk red velvet with cheesecake layers. Oh yes.
I think I will end here for now, and put the rest in a part 2. I've added pictures to both, and plenty more in the album (click on the thumbnails to the right)!
We flew in Thursday morning and the view of the mountains blew me away as soon as my feet hit the tarmac. Every time. You'd think seeing mountains would be less of a big deal after 5 weeks, but no. Also, these are Different mountains so that's got to count for something.
We didn't have many plans for Thursday so we walked around town and
looked in the tourist shops. They all have the same things so after a
while it was just a reason to step out of the cold for a few minutes. I
did buy some sunglasses though. We went to the Below Zero Ice Bar and
enjoyed ourselves despite the low temperatures. There were ice
sculptures, a gas fire in an ice fireplace, and even a little ice hockey
table. Next on the agenda was the Skyline Gondola. The gondola takes
you to the top of the mountain behind Qtown (I think it's technically a
hill, but it looked like a mountain to me) to the Skyline complex, which
has a shop, restaurants, a viewing deck, and a luge track. We had a
good ride around the track in our little gravity powered carts. I came
in last, but we weren't really racing. For lunch we ate at the
Fergburger, which apparently is quite famous, and for good reason!
Every time we walked past the line was out the door but the wait is worth
it. 
There were a couple of Mexican restaurants in town, and those are not very common in NZ so we figured we had to put one to the test. I got a duck enchilada with mole sauce and I don't care if it was 'authentic' because it sure was delicious. Our waiter was an American guy from PA that moved to NZ a few months ago instead of going to law school and we had a nice chat.
On Friday Ray went skiing and Micah and I had our own adventures! What we had planned originally was cancelled because of the weather, but there was plenty more to do. We went to Arrowtown in the morning and had a much bigger adventure in the afternoon.
Arrowtown is a small town not far from Qtown which boomed in 1862 when
gold was discovered. Now it's home to local farmers and primarily
tourists. Everything is still set up in quaint little mining town
buildings. Outside of town is a historical site of the Chinese Miner's
Village. I think some of the buildings are reconstructions from the
village that was empty in the 1920s. The Chinese were initially invited
into town for gold mining, but once a large group of them arrived they
were treated badly by the white people and set up their own village
outside of town. Some of the buildings set up were proper houses made of
stone, but some were just sheets of metal and wood stuck in the side of
the mountain. It's a little lower in the valley than the rest of town
so it was few degrees colder and a layer of snow was on the ground. I
don't know how they did it. Micah and I had lunch and bought some fudge,
after sampling quite a few flavors I settled on a chunk of creme brulee
and a chunk red velvet with cheesecake layers. Oh yes. I think I will end here for now, and put the rest in a part 2. I've added pictures to both, and plenty more in the album (click on the thumbnails to the right)!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Swords
Hello my friends!
I've had a good week and I hope you have too.
It was a slow week at work, but now that they have finished redoing the floor in the production area things should be up and running again soon. New equipment is also on its way so it's a very exciting time here at Bio-Mer. Actually, my supervisor just said there were some complications, so the new machine is delayed. Still good stuff though.
Friday and Saturday I slept in and relaxed and got to talk to some of you lovely people! The real excitement, however, started Saturday evening. I had my ticket and I was ready to watch some bona fide New Zealand Rugby. Riding the metro is free if you have a ticket so the bus quickly filled up with rugby fans and we were on our way to the stadium. There was an older man waiting with me at the bus stop and he started to explain things to me. When we got to the stadium he pointed out where the buses would be at the end of the game, and it was a good thing he did because it was the opposite direction from where they dropped us. At this point it was an hour before the game started, but the stadium was already filling up fast so we parted ways and found our seats.
I had a cheap seat, but it wasn't too bad. The group with the seats directly next to me didn't arrive until directly before the game started, but there was plenty happening before that. The players were warming up on the field, and I give them mad props, because doing anything in below freezing weather is difficult, let alone sprinting and tackling with nothing but a jersey to protect them.
The Christchurch team, the Crusaders, has the best record in the
Super 15 league, which is the 15 best rugby teams in the southern
hemisphere. On Saturday they played the Wellington Hurricanes and the
fans were ready for a fight! Before the game started they had crusaders
on horses riding around the stadium and as they circled the crowd
cheered and waved their foam swords like there was no tomorrow. As a
horseman in the Hurricane team colors road around everyone booed except
the few Hurricane fans, to whom the Crusader fans good-naturedly yelled
"I know where you're sitting!"
At first I was just trying to watch the game, but after a short time
I gave up and asked the person next to me about the scoring. There was a
group of friends next to me and when they realized I had no idea what
was going on one of them would lean over and explain something to me. I
learned about scoring and scrums and toss ins and off-sides, and during
half time, the best places to go skiing. The Crusaders lost, 22-23, but
it was a good game, I think.
On the way home the man next to me on the bus thought I sounded Canadian, until he asked me say "eh." Apparently I failed the test because that was enough to convince him that I was American. It's interesting, when people realize I'm American, most of the type they are politely interested and ask what I'm doing here, but sometimes I'll meet someone that is just fascinated by my Americanness. I got home, had a grilled pb&j, and went to bed because Sunday had an early start.
After a quick breakfast I got on the tour bus and headed to Mt.
Sunday, or what is famous as Edoras in the Lord of the Rings. There were
four other people on the tour, two from Australia and two from the UK
and everyone was quite nice. It's about 170 km from Chch to Mt. Sunday,
but we made a few stops along the way. The first one was at a cafe in a
tiny town that had only a cafe, church, and school. And sheep. After
having a cup of tea and a sausage roll, the tour guide got some muffin
scraps from the cafe waitress and we fed a couple of sheep that were
outside. They weren't part of a flock, they were more like pets and they
sure did like the muffins. They were so soft and fluffy! Dreams really
do come true. We also stopped to take pictures at some other scenic
spots before we arrived at the base of Mt. Sunday. The little four wheel
drive bus had trouble making it up very far because the ground was
quite muddy so we walked the rest of the way. The tour guide had a
backpack full of goodies for us to play with at the top.
Mt. Sunday is a relatively small mountain compared to the mountains
around it, but it was plenty tall when we were walking. It is amazing. I
can understand why they chose it for the set. Huge mountains on either
side and a fairly level valley between the two with a river flowing
along one side. We got to the top and took pictures with some swords, an
ax and a flag, all replicas from the movies. The guide had pictures
from the set and it was quite easy to see, yes, this is exactly where
they filmed this bit. My inner and outer nerd were having a great
time. Apparently it took them 8 months to build the set on Mt Sunday and
they filmed there for about 12 days. Crazy. And the conservation department
were quite strict and said they couldn't move any rocks and if they
moved a plant they had to put it back in the same spot.
We walked back to the tour van and then rode back to Mt Pott's Station, where we had our lunch. Pumpkin soup, tuna salad sandwiches, white wine, and chocolate cake. Everything was delicious except for the wine. I can understand, I think, why people like to drink it with fish, but I thought it tasted awful. Anyway, after lunch we headed back to town and on the way we watched a behind the scenes DVD about the movies and Edoras and now I really want to movie marathon.
If I have inspired you to watch the movies, the Two Towers has several scenes at Mt. Sunday for your viewing pleasure. If you want to wait to watch the movies until I'm back, I'll be more than happy to be that obnoxious person who says "ooh, ooh, I've been there!" at every chance I get.
I'm at work, killing time because my supervisor has some friends of his here and they are talking business and other old man stuff and now he's trying to explain to his buddy how to use a touchscreen phone. "You've got to touch it gently, caress it."
This post has gotten really long, so thanks for sticking around if you've read this far. I should probably find something productive to do.
I've had a good week and I hope you have too.
It was a slow week at work, but now that they have finished redoing the floor in the production area things should be up and running again soon. New equipment is also on its way so it's a very exciting time here at Bio-Mer. Actually, my supervisor just said there were some complications, so the new machine is delayed. Still good stuff though.
Friday and Saturday I slept in and relaxed and got to talk to some of you lovely people! The real excitement, however, started Saturday evening. I had my ticket and I was ready to watch some bona fide New Zealand Rugby. Riding the metro is free if you have a ticket so the bus quickly filled up with rugby fans and we were on our way to the stadium. There was an older man waiting with me at the bus stop and he started to explain things to me. When we got to the stadium he pointed out where the buses would be at the end of the game, and it was a good thing he did because it was the opposite direction from where they dropped us. At this point it was an hour before the game started, but the stadium was already filling up fast so we parted ways and found our seats.
I had a cheap seat, but it wasn't too bad. The group with the seats directly next to me didn't arrive until directly before the game started, but there was plenty happening before that. The players were warming up on the field, and I give them mad props, because doing anything in below freezing weather is difficult, let alone sprinting and tackling with nothing but a jersey to protect them.
At first I was just trying to watch the game, but after a short time
I gave up and asked the person next to me about the scoring. There was a
group of friends next to me and when they realized I had no idea what
was going on one of them would lean over and explain something to me. I
learned about scoring and scrums and toss ins and off-sides, and during
half time, the best places to go skiing. The Crusaders lost, 22-23, but
it was a good game, I think.On the way home the man next to me on the bus thought I sounded Canadian, until he asked me say "eh." Apparently I failed the test because that was enough to convince him that I was American. It's interesting, when people realize I'm American, most of the type they are politely interested and ask what I'm doing here, but sometimes I'll meet someone that is just fascinated by my Americanness. I got home, had a grilled pb&j, and went to bed because Sunday had an early start.
After a quick breakfast I got on the tour bus and headed to Mt.
Sunday, or what is famous as Edoras in the Lord of the Rings. There were
four other people on the tour, two from Australia and two from the UK
and everyone was quite nice. It's about 170 km from Chch to Mt. Sunday,
but we made a few stops along the way. The first one was at a cafe in a
tiny town that had only a cafe, church, and school. And sheep. After
having a cup of tea and a sausage roll, the tour guide got some muffin
scraps from the cafe waitress and we fed a couple of sheep that were
outside. They weren't part of a flock, they were more like pets and they
sure did like the muffins. They were so soft and fluffy! Dreams really
do come true. We also stopped to take pictures at some other scenic
spots before we arrived at the base of Mt. Sunday. The little four wheel
drive bus had trouble making it up very far because the ground was
quite muddy so we walked the rest of the way. The tour guide had a
backpack full of goodies for us to play with at the top.
We walked back to the tour van and then rode back to Mt Pott's Station, where we had our lunch. Pumpkin soup, tuna salad sandwiches, white wine, and chocolate cake. Everything was delicious except for the wine. I can understand, I think, why people like to drink it with fish, but I thought it tasted awful. Anyway, after lunch we headed back to town and on the way we watched a behind the scenes DVD about the movies and Edoras and now I really want to movie marathon.
If I have inspired you to watch the movies, the Two Towers has several scenes at Mt. Sunday for your viewing pleasure. If you want to wait to watch the movies until I'm back, I'll be more than happy to be that obnoxious person who says "ooh, ooh, I've been there!" at every chance I get.
I'm at work, killing time because my supervisor has some friends of his here and they are talking business and other old man stuff and now he's trying to explain to his buddy how to use a touchscreen phone. "You've got to touch it gently, caress it."
This post has gotten really long, so thanks for sticking around if you've read this far. I should probably find something productive to do.
More Pictures!
I had a blast this weekend and I'll put a proper blog up soon, but for now I wanted to let you know that I've put more pictures online!
I'm trying to keep the number of pictures on facebook to a reasonable minimum but I wanted to share more so I've started an album on Picasa. Blogger and Picasa are both Google products so hopefully it will be easier for me to include pictures in my posts. One downfall is that I've already used more than half of my free data allotment on Picasa so at some point I might also put pictures on Flickr. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
You can see some of the pictures on the upper right hand side of this page. Click on those or the link above to get to the album. I'm still trying to iron out the technical details, so please let me know if it's not working.
One reason for doing this is that I'll be able to add comments to pictures so that I'll remember why I took the pictures that I did. These are going to be more for my benefit than yours, but if you want to know more I'll be glad to share.
I'm trying to keep the number of pictures on facebook to a reasonable minimum but I wanted to share more so I've started an album on Picasa. Blogger and Picasa are both Google products so hopefully it will be easier for me to include pictures in my posts. One downfall is that I've already used more than half of my free data allotment on Picasa so at some point I might also put pictures on Flickr. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
You can see some of the pictures on the upper right hand side of this page. Click on those or the link above to get to the album. I'm still trying to iron out the technical details, so please let me know if it's not working.
One reason for doing this is that I'll be able to add comments to pictures so that I'll remember why I took the pictures that I did. These are going to be more for my benefit than yours, but if you want to know more I'll be glad to share.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Done-Eden
This weekend I went to Dunedin and I had a blast!
After a six hour bus ride, I arrived in Dunedin and dropped my bag at the hostel I had arranged to stay in, Manor House Backpackers. It was a lovely old building on a hill and I quickly met some of the other guests, but I had places to be! The Cadbury chocolate factory in Dunedin has tours, which includes samples! I thought I knew a lot about chocolate, but there was plenty that I didn't know. The most interesting thing was how different chocolates are sold in different countries. Cadbury does a lot more than creme eggs. Fun fact: the same recipe of chocolate can taste different depending on the milk used. NZ chocolates taste different than others because the milk is from grass-fed cows. I don't know if I could tell, but the chocolate sure was good, so I'll take their word for it.
On Saturday I went to the railway station, which claims to be the most photographed building in Dunedin, New Zealand, or the southern hemisphere, depending on who you ask. Right outside was the farmer's market which was large and brought to life by the exceptionally warm weather and shining sun. I decided to buy lunch there and had a little picnic in the sun on a hill overlooking the city. Inside the railway station is the NZ Sports Hall of Fame so I gave it a visit. It wasn't the best museum I've been too, but it was good to learn a little about sports here.
On Sunday I didn't have much time before I needed to be back on the bus to Christchurch so I headed off across town to Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world. It was actually pretty far away so I had already had quite a walk before I got there. I thought about turning around at the bottom to head back and maybe go the art gallery, but I thought if I had made it that far, I had better walk to the top. It sure was steep though. They were not lying. On the way back I walked through the botanic garden and stopped at a cafe to get a cup of Earl Grey and tasty muffin. Possibly chocolate chip and rhubarb - they have some weird muffins here.
After a six hour bus ride, I arrived in Dunedin and dropped my bag at the hostel I had arranged to stay in, Manor House Backpackers. It was a lovely old building on a hill and I quickly met some of the other guests, but I had places to be! The Cadbury chocolate factory in Dunedin has tours, which includes samples! I thought I knew a lot about chocolate, but there was plenty that I didn't know. The most interesting thing was how different chocolates are sold in different countries. Cadbury does a lot more than creme eggs. Fun fact: the same recipe of chocolate can taste different depending on the milk used. NZ chocolates taste different than others because the milk is from grass-fed cows. I don't know if I could tell, but the chocolate sure was good, so I'll take their word for it.
Dunedin is full of gorgeous old churches made of stone and stained-glass windows. I spent the rest of the day walking around town and talking to the other guests at the Manor House.
On Saturday I went to the railway station, which claims to be the most photographed building in Dunedin, New Zealand, or the southern hemisphere, depending on who you ask. Right outside was the farmer's market which was large and brought to life by the exceptionally warm weather and shining sun. I decided to buy lunch there and had a little picnic in the sun on a hill overlooking the city. Inside the railway station is the NZ Sports Hall of Fame so I gave it a visit. It wasn't the best museum I've been too, but it was good to learn a little about sports here.
After the disappointment of the sports hall of fame, the Otago museum was exceptional. There were some fairly standard culture around the world sections and they were done very well, but my favorite parts were about the Maori culture and the wildlife native to NZ. The architecture and sculptures that are part of Maori culture are similar to cliché tiki Hawaiian ones, but Maori ones are unique to themselves and so much more beautiful than the fake luau stuff. In the nature section was a bunch of Moa skeletons and some recreations. The moa are birds that were once found only in NZ but were hunted to extinction a few hundred years ago. The tallest is around 12 feet tall, covered in feathers, and has no wings. Moa don't even have vestigial wing bones. I think the recreations look like Big Bird's pre-historic cousin.
At that point I headed back to the hostel to go with some of the people there to the midwinter carnival downtown. Although it had been sunny that whole day, it was pouring buckets now. Since the carnival was all outdoors and included paper lanterns, the carnival was cancelled and I ended up hanging out with my new acquaintances. By the end of the night I had met an American, a Dutch-Canadian, two French people, a Spaniard, and a handful of Kiwis. At times it is awkward with a group of people that have just met, but it's always fun to talk to people from around the world.
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On Sunday I didn't have much time before I needed to be back on the bus to Christchurch so I headed off across town to Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world. It was actually pretty far away so I had already had quite a walk before I got there. I thought about turning around at the bottom to head back and maybe go the art gallery, but I thought if I had made it that far, I had better walk to the top. It sure was steep though. They were not lying. On the way back I walked through the botanic garden and stopped at a cafe to get a cup of Earl Grey and tasty muffin. Possibly chocolate chip and rhubarb - they have some weird muffins here.
The bus ride back was crowded and the bus was so full it could barely make it up some of the hills. From that bus stop I had to take the city bus back to my flat, and by that point I was glad to be home. On my way there I realized how nice it was to be able to consider my little room in my little apartment a home. It's only temporary and on the other side of the planet than usual, but it's a home nonetheless.
I hope you had as good a weekend as me!
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Choo Choo!
Greymouth was a nice place, but there wasn't a whole lot to do there so I'm glad I only stayed there for an hour. I took the train back the same day and I sat on the other side so I got a slightly different view.
I spent the rest of the weekend relaxing with and talking to my flatmates, friends, and family. Earlier this afternoon (Sunday, for me) I showed my Pakistani friend how to make pancakes! She is going to show me how to make something soon, so I'm excited for that. Then I went to the Restart mall in the city center and walked around a bit. There weren't very many people around because today was a little colder.
For the next four days I will be working, then on Friday I will go to Dunedin! I don't have much of anything planned yet, but I will be visiting the Cadbury chocolate factory!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
General Update
I thought I'd let you know what I've been up to since I've been here.
I work Monday through Thursday, and I must admit, I could get used to a schedule like this. My internship hasn't been super exciting yet and I haven't really started what I think will be my main project this summer (winter? I don't know what to call it). Also it's chemistry stuff that I don't think most of you care about, but I will tell you all about it eventually, don't worry. For now I will say that sometimes it is frustrating, but it is a learning experience so I am trying to think of it that way. Adjusting to a brand new workplace isn't easy, but the people there make it a lot better. Joe and Kelly are the two guys I work with and they have taught me a lot about New Zealand. Both of them are Kiwis so they are my main source for local info.
Now let me tell you about where I am staying. I am living in student apartments at the University of Canterbury. The flat is actually pretty nice, so most of the people living here are international and/or graduate students. I'm staying in a building used primarily for temporary housing (i.e. not for a semester of school) so it's hard to gauge the rest of the apartments. I have a bedroom to myself and I share a kitchen common area and bathroom with four other people. Between the five of us we make a very interesting group. (I might not spell their names correctly but I think you get the idea)
I am getting to know Christchurch pretty well and some friends that are interns in other cities are coming to visit this weekend so I will have plenty of adventures to tell you about!
I have a hard time remembering what I've already posted here and what I have told other people so if you are wondering something, ask! With the time difference I have gotten into the habit of checking things online when I wake up and having notifications make waking up at 7 a.m. a little bit easier. =]
Before I forget, I felt an earthquake last night! It was a 4.2 but it was enough to barely wake me up. I didn't notice much but people today said that it shook things quite a bit. So, yeah, I've officially felt an earthquake in Christchurch.
I work Monday through Thursday, and I must admit, I could get used to a schedule like this. My internship hasn't been super exciting yet and I haven't really started what I think will be my main project this summer (winter? I don't know what to call it). Also it's chemistry stuff that I don't think most of you care about, but I will tell you all about it eventually, don't worry. For now I will say that sometimes it is frustrating, but it is a learning experience so I am trying to think of it that way. Adjusting to a brand new workplace isn't easy, but the people there make it a lot better. Joe and Kelly are the two guys I work with and they have taught me a lot about New Zealand. Both of them are Kiwis so they are my main source for local info.
Now let me tell you about where I am staying. I am living in student apartments at the University of Canterbury. The flat is actually pretty nice, so most of the people living here are international and/or graduate students. I'm staying in a building used primarily for temporary housing (i.e. not for a semester of school) so it's hard to gauge the rest of the apartments. I have a bedroom to myself and I share a kitchen common area and bathroom with four other people. Between the five of us we make a very interesting group. (I might not spell their names correctly but I think you get the idea)
- Uzma is from Pakistan. She is here for the next two years getting her second Ph.D. From what she has said I think she is a practicing doctor back in Pakistan as well. The food she cooks always smells wonderfully, and she is nice enough to share! While we eat we tell each other about Pakistan and America and laugh about the funny Kiwi things.
- Wei is from Malaysia and she is here getting a Ph.D. in chemical engineering. She is closest to my age I think and we have had some fun together! We went to the Antarctic Center on Sunday and we got to see penguins! and stand in an artificial antarctic storm! and see penguins!
- Simona is from Italy. Simona is here for a couple months doing post doctoral research with civil engineering. She just moved in a few days ago, but she has already had me try Italian coffee. I think I will stick with tea. She also said she would make me Italian pasta so I am looking forward to that. She was a little shocked when she saw the instant noodles I was eating.
- Simona (yes, another Simona) is from Germany. She is also here doing post doc research, but I forget in what exactly. She has been here for some time already so she is the resident expert on New Zealand.
I am getting to know Christchurch pretty well and some friends that are interns in other cities are coming to visit this weekend so I will have plenty of adventures to tell you about!
I have a hard time remembering what I've already posted here and what I have told other people so if you are wondering something, ask! With the time difference I have gotten into the habit of checking things online when I wake up and having notifications make waking up at 7 a.m. a little bit easier. =]
Before I forget, I felt an earthquake last night! It was a 4.2 but it was enough to barely wake me up. I didn't notice much but people today said that it shook things quite a bit. So, yeah, I've officially felt an earthquake in Christchurch.
Differences
As far as countries go, New Zealand and America are pretty similar but I have noticed several differences:
Differences
- Peanut Butter - The texture of pb is just the same as the American stuff, but the taste is slightly different. American pb is sweeter and almost rich, whereas the NZ stuff is basically just peanuts (there is some oil and preservatives in there too)
- Turkey - is not a thing here. I think in the whole sliced meat section there was only one of turkey and there was no turkey at a different store. Ham and chicken are the only lunchmeat options usually. Lamb is also significantly more common, if not cheaper than in America.
- Stores have less options in general. Imagine your average grocery store. Imagine the cereal aisle. It stretches for miles, doesn't it? There are only a couple of shelves of cereal here! It's a similar story with the soap/shampoo aisle.
- Conservation and the environment are such a part of daily life here that you don't have to think about it.
- 70% of NZ's energy comes from renewable sources. Wind farms and geothermal are the main providers.
- Every outlet here has a switch right next to it, which is a really good idea. You can leave things plugged in, but they only draw energy when the switch is flipped. I have been wanting this for ages and I didn't think it existed, but NZ is the land where dreams come true!
- Toilets here have two buttons. One button is for a small flush, one is for a big flush. The button you push depends on how much flushage power you think you need. The toilets are low flow and the way they flush means that I haven't been able to tell if water spins the opposite direction!
- Central heating is quite rare. This one I'm not so stoked about. Luckily, my apartment does have heating, but this is fairly uncommon. It tends to not get super cold here so it's not a big deal, but it's winter right now so it can get quite chilly during the night. The heating that is in my apartment is either heated ceiling or heated floor. It's a bit odd to me, but each room has its own thermostat and mine keeps plenty warm.
- Riding the bus is common means of transportation here. There are no school buses so I see a great deal of school kids on my way to work. There are also business people and families and of course a few people that are quite strange. Maybe this would not be a big difference for other places with public transport, but it is certainly new to me. Also, most people say "Thank you" to the bus driver as they exit the bus, even if they go out the back door. It's quite nice, but I don't think people do that very often in America?
- Billboards - I don't think I have seen a single one since I've been here. I'm so used to them that I don't know if I would notice one, but I can't think of seeing any either in Wellington or Christchurch. Edit: So the other day I did notice a couple of billboards, but I could probably count the total I've seen on my fingers.
Those are most of the differences I've noticed so far. There are other differences as far as words, accents, clothing, and that sort of thing, but they are harder to describe with words on the internet.
Are there any rumors you've heard (or experienced) about differences in New Zealand? Ask me in the comments!
Are there any rumors you've heard (or experienced) about differences in New Zealand? Ask me in the comments!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Walking in Chch
I arrived in Christchurch (Chch), unpacked, and then slept for 12 hours. It might not have been the most social option, but I did enjoy it. When I woke up the next day I set off with my back pack and laptop hoping to find some wifi. My flat (flat = apartment) has internet that you have to pay for, but at the time I didn't have a cord to connect with and I was hoping for a cheaper option. Say what you want, but I am helpless without the internet. I didn't have any way to get information about buses, shops, maps, nothing! I had nothing to do but start walking.
I read in my guidebook about about a coffee shop with free wifi so I set out in that direction, ready for a walk. Well, I didn't realize quite how far that was from where I live. After walking almost an hour I found a McDonalds with free wifi so I bought a fruit smoothie and sat online, trying to look up everything I could think of. After a while I had reached my data limit and finished my smoothie so I walked across the parking lot to the mall, hoping to find another hot spot. A store with wifi was next to a food place so I had lunch and an internet connection until I timed out again. While online I looked up info about the metro and and I found a library not too far away that sold metro cards so I headed in that direction. I walked for an hour, only to find it closed. I walked back to my apartment to meet my flatmates and ask them about the closest supermarket. I walked a couple blocks and finally got some food. In all that walking, I never got lost once, I'm just a bad judge of scale so what looked like a spot around the corner was in reality, much farther away.
Monday was a public holiday so I used that day to get some stuff done. I had just enough change (3.20) for a metro ticket. I got on my bus, dumped the change in my hand and the driver picked up a two dollar coin and handed me change and a ticket. I might be 20, but I still look like a child so the bus driver charged me half price and gave me a child's ticket. Now that I've got a metro card that won't happen again, but the card is cheaper than paying with change so I'll take it.
I wanted to have some more fun with my metro card so I took the bus to a different part of town and walked around for a bit. Eventually I rode back to my apartment and started planning for the next week. I had to figure out the metro times and transfers to get to work the next morning and I found some things to do this weekend. I had an early night so I could wake up bright and early for my commute to work on Tuesday. I'll tell you all about Bio-Mer soon!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Snow!
It's snowing here in Christchurch!
According to the guys at work this much is unusual for this part of town. It's not too cold out and it rained last night so there's a layer of slush under the snow. So far there is maybe two inches, if that, but they were surprised when I showed up to work this morning! It wasn't exactly a walk in the park to get here, but I've got a good coat and I'm used to much worse. My supervisor keeps saying he'll send me up on a bus to ski or snowboard in the mountains. I certainly won't turn that down. He's also offered to drive me home from work today and I won't turn that down either.
Look for a longer update tonight - or more likely for you, tomorrow morning.
According to the guys at work this much is unusual for this part of town. It's not too cold out and it rained last night so there's a layer of slush under the snow. So far there is maybe two inches, if that, but they were surprised when I showed up to work this morning! It wasn't exactly a walk in the park to get here, but I've got a good coat and I'm used to much worse. My supervisor keeps saying he'll send me up on a bus to ski or snowboard in the mountains. I certainly won't turn that down. He's also offered to drive me home from work today and I won't turn that down either.
Look for a longer update tonight - or more likely for you, tomorrow morning.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Wellington
Now that I have spent some time here, let me tell you about New Zealand!
For the full affect of this and future posts, I suggest you follow along with pictures, found HERE
I flew in to Wellington Wednesday morning and met up with the other interns. We took shuttles to the hostel, dropped our stuff off, and started walking around Wellington. The director of the orientation, Richard, is a Wellington native and had answers to most of our questions no matter how ridiculous. We saw some pretty neat places - the parliament building, the theater that the Lord of the Rings premiered at, even the street that the hipster hang out on! What really struck me that first day is the appearance of Wellington. The city itself looks pretty standard, but the mountains around it cannot be found in Indiana!
My three favorite parts of nature are:
1. water
2. mountains
3. greenery
and NZ is all three at once! No matter where you go you are not very far from the coast of the ocean and as soon as the water stops, the mountains start. New Zealand is right on a fault line, so the land as we know it is a result of earthquakes and volcanoes pushing solid ground above the ocean. Below freezing weather is rare on most of the islands so plants are in bloom year round. The few deciduous trees here have let their leaves go, but those are few and far between.
For dinner that night we went to a Japanese restaurant, which was good enough. The noteworthy part is that I had sushi! Real, honest to goodness, fishy, sushi. I'm not sure what the first one was, but it reminded me of tuna salad. I also had salmon and avocado rolls, and another one with salmon. The fish was really mild and I could hardly taste it, but the texture was a little strange.
The next day in Wellington we went to Zealandia, a nature reserve right outside the city. The park was surrounded by 2 meter fence to keep the predators out. Cats, possums, rodents, and other hungry mammals were introduced to the islands by humans and the flightless birds that NZ is famous for can't handle them. (If you are into birds I can tell you more about them later.) Even though we had quite the walk in Zealandia, most of us took a shuttle to the top of Mount Victoria and then walked back to the hostel. Mt Vic is only 190 meters tall so not technically a mountain, but still pretty sweet if you ask me. A scene for the Lord of the rings was shot there, so that's cool too! Dinner that night was Indian and the evening consisted of buying chocolate and playing cards with the other interns.
Day 3 in Wellington was the Seal Coast Safari! We loaded into a couple of 4 wheel drive SUVs and set off over the mountains to the coast. Along the way we saw some very nice houses, an ostrich, a wild goat that looked like a dog, wild horses, and plenty of wind turbines. We saw a couple of seals as soon as we got to the beach and we saw some funny birds too. On the way one of the tour guides stopped to pick some tree leaves and we stopped on the beach to have some tree leaf tea and muffins. I don't remember the tree, but it went well with banana rhubarb muffins.
Back in town for lunch I had a lamb burger and it was better than I could have imagined. Lamb meat is quite common here, which makes sense with so many sheep. One different thing about burgers here is that they are topped with pickled beets as well as the usual condiments. I might have to bring that back with me. We spent the afternoon in Te Papa, the national museum, had Malaysian food for dinner, and played more cards after that.
The next day, Saturday for those keeping track at home, most people left to their accommodations early in the morning, but my flight to Christchurch (Chch) didn't leave till the afternoon. I spent the morning walking around the waterfront and business district before Te Papa opened and I spent the rest of my time in there. There are some really cool exhibits in Te Papa! There was a giant squid and more about the natural history of NZ. There was quite a bit about the Maori, which was completely new to me. There was really cool stuff too about the recent history of NZ. The top 2 floors out of 6 were art, but I didn't get very far in the gallery before I had to leave to catch my airport shuttle.
This is already quite long so look for another post soon about Christchurch and my internship!
Friday, June 1, 2012
G'Day Everybody!
I am loving it here in Wellington! Probably because the program is paying for most of what we've done!
Tomorrow I move to my sight in Christchurch. It will be nice to settle in and unpack my suitcase.
Monday is a public holiday, so work starts Tuesday.
I'll try and put pictures up soon, too.
I am loving it here in Wellington! Probably because the program is paying for most of what we've done!
Tomorrow I move to my sight in Christchurch. It will be nice to settle in and unpack my suitcase.
Monday is a public holiday, so work starts Tuesday.
I'll try and put pictures up soon, too.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Say What Now?
I should probably explain my attempt at cleverness that is my blog title.
A kiwi is a fruit (see background picture), a bird native to New Zealand, and a slang for a person native to New Zealand.
The people indigenous to New Zealand are the Maori and some of their language has been incorporated into NZ English. "Kia Ora" is an example of that. Literally it means "be well" but generally it means "Hi."
I'm not sure if the blog title makes any actual sense, but the internet is crowded and it has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
The Basics
Because you have found your way to my blog, I'm going to assume you know that I've got an internship in New Zealand, but let me tell you more!
Follow along on the map to the right. If you are unsure of where New Zealand is, it hangs out in the southern hemisphere near Australia.
New Zealand is a country of islands, the North Island and the South Island. Fun fact: there are more sheep than people!
Let's start with the basics.
Follow along on the map to the right. If you are unsure of where New Zealand is, it hangs out in the southern hemisphere near Australia.
New Zealand is a country of islands, the North Island and the South Island. Fun fact: there are more sheep than people!
I leave Indianapolis early morning Monday, May 28th and I will arrive on May 30th. "Wow, that is a long time for travel," you might be saying. Well, the Pacific Ocean is big and I'll be crossing the dateline, I'll basically be living in tomorrow.
My flights in and out of New Zealand are in Auckland (1). It is the biggest city in NZ and apparently a pretty cool place, but I won't be spending much time there.
After I arrive, I'll spend a few days in Wellington (2) seeing sights and getting oriented. This expedition of mine is put together by the good folks at AustraLearn GlobaLinks and they have helped me sort everything out for my trip.
In June 2nd I'll fly from Wellington (2) to Christchurch (3). I'll be living in shared student apartments at the local university and hanging with the cool kids. I'll be working for a nutraceutical company called Bio-Mer.
No, the internship is not paid, but I will get 6 credits transferrable to Hope. Legit, no?
I'll be flying home on August 11th and I'll try my best to keep you updated between now and then.
If you have any suggestions for things I should do or see on my adventures, please, let me know! I'm not entirely sure how this blog-whatsit works, but you can leave a comment right here or another way. (To leave a comment, click on the green post title above!) My phone won't be on in NZ (I'll have another one while I'm there) so we can communicate on the internet instead. You know where to find me.
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