Until the Middle of October...

Had a nice chill few days here in Whakatiwai. Thursday around 1:00 a group of us went to Thames for a bit of shopping. We are going to the south island tomorrow and it's snowing there, so we all needed to bulk up on our warm clothing. I bought a melon colored merino wool sweater, and a quick dry tshirt from a Special K Marathon from Salvation Army. Sweet buys, I know. Also bought some New Zealand beer and chocolate. The essentials.

Came back, dinner, then had a party. Crazy party. A lot of fun though. Ended in Hug-Fest 2010 (basically we all were talking about how we missed hugs...so we had tons of group hugs. it was nice.).

Woke up the next morning, saw a rainbow, and packed for a day hike. Rainbows are a dime a dozen here. Almost everyday that I wake up I see one outside my window. Later in the day...I see another one. They are beautiful and never get old.


A group of us decided to go hike the ridge track in the Hunua Ranges. The mountains are in our backyard, and we wont be here around campus for much longer...so why not? It was beautiful.

The hike was a little over 9 miles, I think, at least it felt like that. We just continually walked up and up and up. Still nice though. Views were beautiful.
I even found this cute little bird's nest. And, the best part of the hike was when Paul started talking to a bell bird!!!! He was mimicking it's call, and the bell bird kept calling back. This lasted about 10 minutes. Then we saw him fly over head (the bird, not Paul). I had just done a presentation on bell birds and knew what they looked like, so I was able to identify the bird quickly. It was so cool!

That night we took it easy. We had a small fire down at the beach. The moon was full, or almost full, and beautiful. We all sat around and talked. A few of us stayed even longer. Beck and I kept finding smooth rocks on the beach. I found one that has a smooth curve in it. Perfect for carrying in your pocket. Kind of like a worry stone--not that I have anything to be worried about.

After the fire, we watched "The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert"--a movie about drag-queens who drive through the Australian desert. Didn't finish the movie, but what I saw of it was strange...funny but strange.

Today went for a bike ride into town to get some fish and chips. Delicious! Also packed and got ready for the south island. We leave tomorrow around 8:00 a.m. and don't come back until October 18th. We are going to Levin, Wellington, Nelson, Kaikoura, Hanmer Springs, Craigieburn, and probably some other places. We are staying at a few Marae. I'm super excited!!!!

So there wont be any posting from now until October 18th (most likely, unless I can find some internet cafes--but you also have to pay fro internet here). Hope y'all are doing well.