Winter Has Arrived

Yesterday, it was RAINING. The day before, it was RAINING. Today is mostly cloudy, with no rain. Earlier today, I DEFINITELY spotted a little sunlight and That Was Neat but now its just very very cold, like the Winter Sort Of Cold. But back to yesterday...

Because it had been raining so much, the river (Leith River/the river that runs alongside my flat) kinda exploded with all the water come down from the mountains (and just from the sky in general). Anyways, I was hanging out in the library all day because I had a paper to write and, unlike my flat, the library is heated. However, SILLY ME, I forgot my power adapter for my laptop at home. Oops.

So my computer dies... and I'm walking back to my flat and I see a HUGE crowd of people at the edge of the river and also on the bridge over the river that connects Leith Street to Montgomery Ave (my street). Huh, INTERESTING.

I didn't really understand what this whole gathering was about, so I walk over to check out whatever it was that everyone's looking at. WELL, it turns out that a couple of really genius guys thought it would be a great idea to jump into this raging river of madness With Their Surfboards. A little random, but whatevers... They were trying to grab onto this rope that their friend was holding over the bridge. And I THINK they were aiming to just hold on, stand up, and ride the river. Pretty Solid Plan I guess, EXCEPT that all the guys seriously failed at this rope grabbing business, and just ended up floating down the Huge/Brown/Muddy Mess that was Leith River. This Was Amusing. I'm glad I forgot my power adapter. The end.

Ps. Just checked and winter officially begins on June 1st... Four days off, My Bad.

the clouds have been looking especially rad today

The weather has been super nice and sunny the last couple days. And yeah, sunshine and relative warmth is pretty great, but MAN, the clouds have just been Blowing My Mind. Clouds are SO Awesome. And the best part is that THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!! Seriously though, besides in outer space and in the ocean (which are both pretty awesome in themselves), clouds seem to be basically everywhere. This is Rad.

Soooooo, THE FAMILY CAME TO VISIT!! They were only here for a short time but it was still pretty fun showing them around Otago and Dunedin. Highlights from the family visit (besides just hanging out with everyone) include:

1) Moeraki Boulders = Super large, spherical boulders lying on Koekohe Beach (a little ways north of Dunedin)

2) Botanical Gardens = I had to run to New World (the grocery store) really quick and so I showed them my usual grocery-store-route through the Gardens. Basically, my walk to New World is really pretty and I have a greater appreciation for trees because Trees Are Awesome.

3) Otago Peninsula = Beautiful as always

4) Seeing Penguins at Pilots Beach = After sunset and just when the last bit of light is fading from the sky, hundreds of little Yellow-Eyed Penguins hop up onto Pilots Beach and waddle up into the grass and shrubs to find their nests for the night. Penguins are pretty cool, and I think my family was pretty excited to see them out and about in the wild, so that was really fun :) - University of Otago = Yay, School! Campus is pretty small, so we basically just wandered around so that they could check out the Central Library, St. David's, and the Clock Tower. Basically, that was the Uni (because I'm So Kiwi and all) in a nutshell.

5) The Whisper Dishes = They are AWESOME... I don't really know how else to describe them sorry.

6) Otago Museum = This was only the second museum that I've visited in New Zealand. The first was the Waikato Museum in Hamilton on the North Island... I guess that means this was also my first South Island museum visit... so basically, we've got two museums total. I am pretty content with this number because (as much I enjoy visiting museums just in general) I feel that although New Zealand lacks a ridiculous number of museums, it makes it up in clouds, moutains, lakes, caves, and Great Walking so it's All Good. ANYWAYSSS, the Otago Museum really nice (and FREE!). It had a lot of interesting stuff about Maori culture, Pacific Islanders, and the South Island and Otago region. There was a really cool room about all the different animals that existed and/or still exist around New Zealand so that was really fun because then I got to show my family the different animals (mostly birds) that I've seen, and then I got to tell them about where I saw them and what I know about them from my own experience. Yay for being a good tour guide!!

7) Good Food = Got my family addicted to Pineapple Lumps (the standard Kiwi candy), Rob Roys Ice Cream is SOOO YUMMY, Turkish Kebabs, Anzac Biscuits (kinda like a cross between a date scone and an oatmeal cookie dipped in chocolate), Steak Sandwich, Seafood... basically, hanging out with my family = good food and a happy tummy

After the familia departed, I had to work on a presentation about an analysis of Social Power and the film The Pianist. It all turned out really well and my powerpoint was pretty SWEET so that was really nice to finish. Now, all I've got is three papers (one for next week = easy peasy... and two for the week after = potentially might be a struggle, but not too worried about it) and then just one final exam. YAY for being Almost Done With Classes!!

In terms of just everyday type shenanigans... Yesterday(Friday), I didn't have class and it was really nice out, so a couple friends and I borrowed some surfboards and drove out to the peninsula, attempted to going surfing, but basically just messed around in the water at Allans Beach. Today is Kyle Rhatigan's birthday and he is awesome and one of my bestest friend and I've known him since Kindergarden, YESSSSS!!! Happy Birthday Kyle!!! So today, in honor of Kyle Rhatigan's Birthday, I went to the Farmers' Market, got some pears that I've never tried before but they looked pretty delicious (I got to wait until they ripen up though), failed to find the 24hour book sale that was meant to be going on in the Octagon, and ended up checking out Dunedin's Public Art Gallery (Really Rad, like I really really really liked it and I'll probably go back because its super free and That Is Neat). Tomorrow is also my friend Jenny's Birthday so we are going to go out and celebrate tonight. Yay Birthdays! AND my half birthday on Tuesday! I am so close to being twenty-one and a half years old, YESSSS!! SO CLOSE!!! the closest.

Still Alive

And it's already May!! I realized that it's been awhile since my last update on life. So in no particular order, this is what's been rocking my New Zealand world.

First, let's start with MUSIC.

I have decided that music adds a whole other dimension to life... like a Dimension of Awesomeness. (To break it down... So there are many dimensions of life. And many of these many dimensions are quite awesome in themselves. However, add MUSIC, and that changes the game, because music has the ability to absorb, reflect, and enhance/amplify the awesomeness already present in these other dimensions of life.) Anyway, I have gotten so much music in the last couple weeks and man, it's been a super good time. It's all mainly just a great combination of seriously SERIOUSLY GOOD BEATS and good lyrics. So basically, we've got a few new Jams, some Running Music, some Sleepytime Music, some Mash-ups for Epic Paper-Writing Shenanigans, some "Into the Wild" Soundtrack Action, and of course more of The Essential Basics... Incubus, The Shins, and (duh) Third Eye Blind.

And then there's MY SLEEPING BAG.

So don't get me wrong, I am totally into my bed. My bed is wonderful. (I mean, come on... It Has Pillows, and let's just be honest, Pillows RULE.) But MAN, I LOVE MY SLEEPING BAG. You see, while half of the world is enjoying a nice spring-to-summer transition, This Half Of The World is enjoying a nice fall-to-winter transition. And it gets significantly cold in the South Island... as in, it's only April (aka mid-fall) and the nighttime temperature is about 39 degrees Fahrenheit/4 degrees Celsius (with the occasional drop below freezing, Oh Dang). And since my flat doesn't really do the whole "heating" thing... basically, I've been sleeping in my sleeping bag EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Bringing my sleeping bag to New Zealand = Best Idea Ever slash Best Packing Decision Of My Life. Love my sleeping bag, Mountain Hardwear: 20 degrees Fahrenheit/-7 degrees Celsius, SO GOOD.

The AMIGOS slash Traveling Companions.

So the last couple weeks have been pretty swell with the amigos. In general, it's been lots of hanging out, lots of playing badminton and basketball (with the random game of ultimate and/or rugby), and lots of making dinner together (learned how to make enchiladas last night and it was SUHWEET). Overall, just seriously good times with seriously awesome people. Last weekend, some of the Amigos and I (aka Paul, Tim, Kristen, Ashlyn, Mike, Alan, Liz and I) ditched Dunedin for the weekend...

- On Friday, we headed out to the Southland region of the South Island, found and stopped at POSSIBLY THE COOLEST PLAYGROUND EVER (complete with a huge zipline), and later got to go exploring in the Clifden Caves. Gotta say, Caving Was Pretty Rad. Basically, it was just us and our headlamps... naviagating our way through small tunnels and large caverns, climbing around rocks and pools of water, and checking out all the limestone formations and the little glow worms :)

- After the caves, we made some dinner and then decided to go nighthiking into the Kepler track to snag a campsite for the night. Saturday morning, woke up for the sunrise over Lake Te Anau, hiked out of Kepler, and then we began our Green Lake Adventure...

- Sidenote/FunFact: Hiking to Green Lake = Hiking through the World's Largest Landslide (http://www.gns.cri.nz/what/earthact/land_stab/greenmore.html WORD)

- So Basically, our hike to Green Lake got a little nuts... meaning that it was AWESOME. We got a late start on the Borland Road Track, so we began hiking around 3:30pm. We start off wandering through the woods and everything's all cool. And then WHOA, things start to get a little muddy. AND THEN, we reach this huge grassy field that looks like nothing BUT is secretly a HUGE MUDDY SWAMPY MARSHLAND. Everyone got pretty muddy and fell/sank into mossy holes of mud and water (Paul and Tim definitely got trapped all the way to their waists = so amusing)... Honestly, this was Way More Fun than it sounds... you basically just had to accepted your ridiculously muddy fate and it was all SUPER GOOD :) Eventually, more forest came our way... until we reached another huge grassy field. However, unlike the first one, this second field of grassy awesomeness was not a huge swamp in disguise so that was pretty sweet. After Grassy Field #2, there was some more forest and more nighthiking until we got to the Green Lake Hut. This was awesome because it was HEATED and had BEDS!!! I was definitely pumped. The next day (Sunday), we woke up to a little rain, but the weather cleared up by the time we left the hut, so we all had a really nice hike along Green Lake and through the woods, fields, and swampy marshes. Back at the van, we changed into whatever dry/less muddy clothes we had and then headed back to Dunedin. That night I went out with some friends for kebabs and ice cream and it was DELICIOUS.

FUTURE PLANS that I am excited about.

The future is always super fuzzy, BUT some parts of the future are getting clearer slash more official slash I Am Officially Going To The All Blacks vs. Wales Game On June 19th 2010. In addition, I am officially seeing my family on Sunday and I get to show them around Dunedin and the South Island for a couple days :) YAY FAMILY!! In terms of way-far-in-the-future plans, when I finally make it back to the Golden State, I am officially buying new running shoes and new jeans... Great Walking has destroyed my Mizunos and My Existence and Good Times in California/Colorado/New Zealand just happens to be manifested in the increasing decimation of my jeans (Kinda a major bummer, but I guess after 2+ years it's to be expected... Shucks). Also, I am officially planning to sleep tonight... I am most seriously tired right now, so I'm pretty excited about this even though I still got a couple hours before bedtime and all.

Currently, it is Thursday. I've finished up my classes for the week. So I got some badminton shenanigans going on later tonight and a weekend of chilling in Dunedin, hanging out friends, some end-of-the-year schoolwork action, and then family time on Sunday YESSSSSS