West Coast = Temperate Rainforest?!

So the internet cafes in New Zealand started giving me issues.. and rather than come back bald from pulling my hair out in frustration, I decided to finish things up from home! Yes, I am currently battling jet lag and enjoying the unlimited wi-fi of my home. Here's the post about the west coast trip, which happened during the last 2 weeks in November. Enjoy =)

I couldn’t help but think about my favorite computer game, Oregon Trail, as all 25 of us packed up our belongings, loaded up our caravan of big white vehicles, stocked up on provisions (ie. food), and dreamt about what it would be like as we ‘headed west’ for our 10 day Terrestrial Ecology field trip. Thankfully, we have petrol instead of oxen and much more than 40lbs. of potatoes to hold us over. We forded a stream only once (take that greedy ferry man!). And there are no snakes of any kind in New Zealand (no unexpected deaths from snake venom).

A map of our journey

Driving up

Our first stop was Te Nikau Lodge.  I could not believe I was still in the same country! The west coast is a temperate rainforest, dense with amazing tree ferns and Nikau palms, and moss EVERYWHERE. For those that are curious, this habitat is due to the rain shadow effect: the westerly winds bring in warm air that gets forced upwards when it hits the Southern Alps that run down through the middle of the South Island. When that air rises, it cools and condenses, leading to lots and lots of rain. Just to give you an idea of the range of rainfall in the South Island, the west coast has had as much as 40 FEET of rain; the driest part of NZ known as the Otago region is just east of the Alps and usually gets 14 INCHES of rain a year.

The beach.. a short walk from the Lodge

This sunset knocked my socks off.

Our professor, a recently retired Messiah prof named Joe Sheldon, is an avid birder (his binoculars never left his neck), and very passionate about ecology. He taught us all about the geological history of NZ, species/population/community etc., and a whole lot more. But the great thing about having an ecology course in NZ is that you get a handful of powerpoints and a truckload of actual exploration to learn it in the field. We had to keep really detailed field notebooks throughout the trip, identifying all the plants and birds we could. Most days were spent on different tracks in the surrounding area, nights were for lectures and discussion.

Exploring!

Jonny, an MK from Russia, introduced us to a card game called Du Rok (Russian for “idiot”). Du Rok swept our CCSP community into a card playing frenzy – we played constantly! And then we got sucked into the world of Monopoly Deal. It’s seriously addicting. I’ve added it to my Christmas list.

DEAL BREAKER!

We stopped by a glacier. Imagine a really big dirty ice cube stuck in between 2 mountain sides. And you have imagined a glacier.

Franz Josef National Park

The gang

WHEATON REPRESENT! With Kaitlyn Cambell and Caleb King

 The last part of our trip was spent at Cass Field Station, a research station owned by the University of Canterbury.  Sunday was a much needed brain-off day: I spent the Sabbath sleeping in, enjoying a late breakfast, going for a run where I was surrounded by mountains and had cows galloping alongside me (no joke), more eating, more Monopoly Deal, and then a worship time at night. Pretty ideal, I’d say.

Inside the research station

In Arthur's Pass National Park

Monday and Tuesday we started our group research projects! I worked with Laura, Halle, and Chimene, and we studied the species diversity and density of all trees, shrubs, mosses, and lichens in two mountain beech forests in Arthur’s Pass National Park. If you really want to know about that, I’ll send you my recently completed research paper. But the amount of different moss species really is cool – 32 different kinds in one forest?? God even cares about decorating the forest floor in patches of unique moss species. So He definitely cares about you.

MOSS MOSS MOSS!

look closely.. there's 3 kinds of moss in this one small patch!

 On one of the car trips to the Beech forests we studied in, we got up close and personal with the parrot species local to the west coast, KEAS! Which happen to be my initials as well. Hence the immediate connection pictured below:

Wednesday morning we reluctantly left Cass. But our disappointment was lifted once we found out where we were stopping on our way home… Castle Hill – where the battle scene in Narnia was filmed!! It was probably one of the best moments of the trip for me. I was climbing all up the limestone rocks (which are from the sea floor, pushed up by tectonic plate collision), and then a bunch of us filmed a re-creation of the battle scene. As the tall blonde wearing white that day, I was selected to be the White Witch. It was epic, and Darin edited it to include the battle music and everything. It will be on facebook sometime soon!

Re-enactment

Work hard

Play hard

So we arrived back in Kaikoura.. and Thursday was technically Thanksgiving, but most of the day was spent working on our research papers and presentations that were due on Friday. We did have a big meal complete with chicken, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, salad and corn bake for dinner. I went for apple pie for dessert, a la mode, along with a cup of coffee. Delicious!

Halle and I on Thanksgiving, out of hiking clothes for once!

So ends the last course of my CCSP semester. Following this field trip I only had 2 weeks left in New Zealand... one last academic week to write an Integration paper, and debrief week - blog posts to come! Thanks for reading!

Under the Sea

What have I been up to lately? ECOLOGY! One of the primary reasons I chose Creation Care Study Program was that it would fulfill the Ecology course requirement to wrap up my Biology Major... not to mention that New Zealand is a pretty ideal place to study ecosystems! We just finished part one of the course, Marine Ecology with Beth Horvath from Westmont College. Instead of sitting in the classroom for hours on end, we spent the majority of our time in the tide pools of the Kaikoura Coast – not a bad way to spend a morning! Throughout the week we identified a total of over 100 species, including sponges, seastars, anemones, invertebrates, birds, mollusks, and green, brown, and red algae (shout out to Dr. Lewis!) .

A cetacean mammal that I was privileged to observe up-close and personal was the Dusky Dolphin! On Tuesday we went on Dolphin Encounter, one of Kaikoura’s big attractions, and several of my classmates and I elected to pay the extra cost so that we did more than just sit on a boat and watch them… WE SWAM WITH THEM! So out we went, very early, into the Pacific Ocean, all wet-suited up. Our skipper quickly found a pod of about 30-40 wild Dusky Dolphins, sounded the bell, and I slid into the deep blue beneath me. They are so curious and playful, especially when you sing to them. So I flipped my flippers as fast as I could, even though keeping up with those guys is impossible, and alternated between singing “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5 and “God Bless America” to attract my new dolphin friends. Weird playlist, I know. AH it was so AWESOME! At the end of our swim we ate ginger cookies and took some pictures, which I’ll have to upload later because I’m writing this on the Convent computer (that has very little bandwidth.. I’m looking forward to wireless back in the states!)

Field biology isn’t as easy as it sounds, however. We went out in all sorts of conditions, even when it was freezing cold and raining. My field notes sometimes look pretty terrible, because all the blood had left my fingers. Our professor ran a tight ship, so by the time I was done with a 2.5 hour exam on Friday night, I was definitely ready for the weekend.

Weekends here can be pretty low-key. No TV or internet or car access makes entertainment on a rainy Saturday afternoon more of a challenge. But I hunkered down with a historical fiction novel and had some good loner time. Everyone needs some of that once in a while.

Tomorrow, Monday, we leave on a 10-day trip to the West Coast of NZ’s south island for Terrestrial Ecology with Joe (our prof). The south island can be so variable – the west coast is actually a temperate rainforest. All three of our big white vans will be packed to the brim with people and luggage and food. I don’t know all of the details off the top of my head, but it’ll be one big road trip with several stops along the way and sleeping in marae’s. Our group could definitely use prayer – that we can be gracious and patient with one another since we’ll be together ALL the time. I hope that this doesn’t turn into a National Lampoon’s west coast nightmare, haha.

We will be back on November 23^rd, which means we’ll be able to have a huge Thanksgiving FEAST back at the Old Convent on that Thursday! It’s a bummer to be missing Thanksgiving at home, but as far as food goes, I’m sure I will be sufficiently stuffed. And I’ll be contributing by cooking one of my favorite T-giving dishes.. CORN PUDDING! Yum.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Destination: QUEENSTOWN

Hmmm.. what should one do with 10 free days in New Zealand? My great friend, Halle, and I decided to head south to the adventure capital of the world – QUEENSTOWN.

We spent a good amount of time on the bus down there (about 11 hours in total), but we did get to stop at some scenic points along the way, like Lake Tekapo (below) which was THE most beautiful blue lake I have ever seen. Halle and I, probably too loudly, said “Oh my gosh!!” as soon as we came over the hill and saw the lake.

Lake Tekapo

Anyways, we arrived in Queenstown by Sunday night, checked into our sweet hostel, and then went out on the town to watch the Rugby World Cup Final. The New Zealand ALL-Blacks WON (beat France 9-8)!!! It was SO cool to be there for their victory – the kiwis couldn’t have been happier and the streets were filled with, let’s just say, joy. The last time they had won was in 1987, so it was a big deal! 

First night in Q-town

Tramping (hiking) is a favorite kiwi and tourist pastime, and Halle and I wanted to give it our best shot. We were in the area of the famous Milford Sounds and the Routeburn track, however huts in Milford are reserved usually a year in advance and Routeburn had avalanche warnings, so we opted for the tamer Greenstone Track.

We get a ride to the trailhead which is a little over an hour outside of Queenstown. I am prepared with a map, ready to make my father proud, and then literally as soon as Halle and I cross this swinging bridge, we go the wrong way. Follow the orange trail markers? Nahh.. let’s just get distracted by the beautiful scenery and then follow sheep paths for 2 hours! 

Needless to say, we get lost. My peanut butter sandwich is deformed. There are orange rocks that lead us nowhere.  We have to cross multiple (really cold!) streams with our shoes off. We almost get attacked by a bull defending his heifers. Halle breaks down. And we end up at a hut that was the opposite way of where we wanted to be. WIN. So we spend the night alone at the Mid-Caples Hut, and come up with an alternate plan as we sit by the somewhat warm fire I made and a serious storm rolls in, complete with thunder and lightning. 

LOST

Tuesday. Wake up, eat an apple, get on our way. We hike back to the carpark with the intention of getting cell phone service to see if we can come back a day early (yes, we were pathetic at this point). But there is no service, it starts pouring, and Halle breaks down again. BUT we carry on, and hike another 14 km to the Greenstone Hut. We made surprisingly good time and made it to the hut right before it started raining again. However our good spirits were squelched yet again, as I could not make a fire out of wet wood, and our dinner for that night depended on boiling water. So what did we eat for dinner? A packet of soup mix with cold water and raw rice. I broke down. 

Wednesday. No intention of hiking. So we spend the entire day lounging around the hut. In fact, we don’t even make it off the porch, because we are SO sore. And starving. But by late afternoon, other people started showing up at the hut! HOORAY! These 3 older Aussie gentlemen let us use their gas stove so we had hot food for dinner. Plus, we met 2 cool American guys who are in the Air Force. The evening certainly turned around. 

Our humble abode

Halle and I woke up very early on Thursday morning to hike back to the car park to catch our 12pm ride back to Queenstown. 

On the way, we got the driver to stop so I could take this beautiful shot. It might even be my favorite picture from the entire semester!

After checking into our hostel and taking a glorious shower, we headed out to experience FERGBURGER – world famous in New Zealand. These things are massive. Worthy of a Man vs. Food challenge perhaps. After three and a half days of eating very little, that burger tasted pretty amazing!! After that we walked around the city, took some more pictures, and then indulged ourselves even more by getting Dark Chocolate ice cream from the Patagonia Chocolate Shop (conveniently located right next to our hostel). Heaven. 

YUM

Cheers. To New Zealand.

Then we come to our last day in Queenstown. Friday. 

Bungee Day. 

Queenstown is actually the birthplace of bungee, so these guys know their stuff. Two of our friends, Paige and Sophie, were also in Queenstown on Friday, so we met up with them at the top of the gondola, to meet our bungee fate on… THE LEDGE.

The Ledge is unique because the bungee is attached to a harness around your waist rather than around your feet, giving you free range of motion.. and the option to dive off with a running start! Halle and Paige and I were so hyped up for this. The fall itself is 40 meters, but since you’re overlooking Queenstown it feels like a heck of a lot further. 

I put my life in the hands of Will, Adam, and Ollie as they tightened my harness and hooked up the bungee to the tunes of Metallica. No going back now!! Ollie had me walk to the edge to see where I was headed..

Then I took a deep breath and ran off the ledge, screaming with simultaneous terror and delight. The feeling was UNREAL. Like the drop of the steepest rollercoaster you can think of, x 200. Check out these shots!!!

 

They bring me back up, and I’m all smiles. “Want to go again?” they ask. “Only $35 bucks extra!” I’ve already emptied by wallet on this trip anyways, so WHY NOT?! The guys tell me that I should do the pendulum jump. “What’s the pendulum?” “Oh, we can’t tell you. You just have to agree to do it.” Um, ok.

Ollie makes me face BACKWARDS on the ledge, holding onto my harness. He tells me to lean back, and once I get up the nerve, I do. He counts to three and lets go, and – get this – AS I AM FALLING, one of the other guys RUNS to the ledge HOLDING A CARIBEANER LIKE HE HAD FORGOTTEN TO HOOK IT ON!!!! I have never been so scared in my life. I realized sometime during my death fall that they were playing a sick joke on me. But I was screaming nevertheless. UNbelievable. 

Halle and Paige had awesome jumps too – Halle decided to go a second time, and they threw her off backwards! What a job. 

Hardcore.

Bungee jumping was, hands down, the highlight of my 21^st year of life.

The rest of the night we tried to get our adrenaline levels down, and walked around the beautiful gardens in Queenstown and watched the sunset. We left Saturday morning – goodbye Queenstown! Thanks for the memories!! 

If Only I Had a Pensieve* (Follow the asterisk if you have no idea what that is)

Summarizing can be a terrifying thing for me. Nobody liked that part of English class – the part where your teacher calls on you asking you to summarize an entire novel that you’ve read half of (ok, skimmed). But here goes, I will try to unscramble my mind late on Friday night and give you the low-down of what’s been going on in the past couple of weeks.

As I have reminded you all before, I actually am taking classes here -  I consider myself full-time student and part-time Adventurer. I had two weeks of class, then hiked Mount Fyffe, and have just finished another two weeks of class.



The course I took October 10-14^th was God and Nature with Eric Steincamp from Northwestern University in Oregon. Honestly nothing can top my theology course at Wheaton – Christian Thought with Dr. Johnson. That course was, hands down, the most influential in my life. But this class did re-open a lot of thoughts that I had in Dr. J’s class and it was good to wrestle with them again. Take heaven for instance. Growing up I thought that heaven was a place removed from earth –somewhere I could go to when I died and escaped the evilness of the earth. But I’m starting to re-think this, taking into account some Revelation scriptures. God might (I hesitate to say will) come down to earth and re-create it to the way it was meant to be. (C.S. Lewis’ The Last Battle?!) I’m not going to pan all of this out right now, but email me your thoughts on heaven if you like. We had some other great discussions on things like our place in Creation, imago dei, what happens to the earth according to Revelation, and N.T. Wright’s great book Surprised By Joy.

Our professor wanted us to put some of our ideas into practice during that week, so we did some other cool things like…

Visiting our local farm to see where we get our fruits and veggies. Even helped plant some beans and lettuce, and cooked potatoes in a fire.











Helped out the Department of Conservation by planting trees on the Kaikoura Peninsula.





And my group’s project for the end of the week was to prepare a Mindful 100 Mile Meal. I’ve been learning a lot about eating local food, and so it was exciting to come up with a dinner using only local ingredients. We made… blue cod (caught off the shores of Kaikoura) seasoned with lemons from our lemon tree and herbs from our garden, served with a walnut-parsley pesto (all ingredients from garden), and a salad (from our local lettuce lady) with yogurt mint dressing (yogurt made from raw milk), potatoes (from Christchurch) baked with olive oil and herbs, and for dessert – peaches (grown at the convent last fall and canned) with whipped cream topping (also made from raw milk). Sound good? It was freaking delicious.

Gabe cracking walnuts

getting raw milk



one of our herb gardents

Last weekend we watched the Rugby World Cup Semifinals on TV – France beat Wales, and NZ beat Australia. So this Sunday will be the final – NZ vs. France! The whole country is stoked. NZ hasn’t won since 1987 or something like that.

Birthdays are a big deal at the Convent. A couple weeks ago we had a Murder Mystery Dinner, and this week was Kaitlin (also from Wheaton) and John (our groundsman extraordinaire)’s birthdays. We had to come dressed as a literary character. Guessing mine is easy. (Although I swear I do like books other than Harry Potter. It was an easy costume. Hermione, Ron, and Rita Skeeter were also in attendance).

We created lawn games, had delicious pizza for dinner, and even did a little improv. All in all, a very entertaining and fun-filled afternoon.



my backyard



mmmm pizza

Alas, I have finished this week of Environmental Literature II, which required lots of reflections, in class essays, and writing poetry. We read a lot of really good work though – Annie Dillard’s Holy the Firm and selections from her novel Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. We read a bit of Thoreau (although I can’t say I’m his biggest fan). And just like C.S. Lewis is the patron saint of Wheaton, so I think Wendell Berry is the patron saint of CCSP.

So folks after four weeks of intensive class, I am off to SPRING BREAK. Yes, Spring. All of my college friends probably just got back from Fall Break (making me nostalgic for HoneyRock times). And you have no idea how much I am missing Fall – the changing leaves, the pumpkins, the apple cider. GAH. Two springs sucks and is bizarre.

Anyways, the 20 of us are scattering across the Southern Island. I think the timing is perfect to get a break from the convent and from being with the same people all the time. So what are my plans? Halle and I are headin’ south, first hiking the Greenstone Track and then exploring Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world. Also where bungee jumping was invented…hint hint.

Thanks for reading! Miss you all!

Love, K

* A Pensieve is a tool used by some of the most respectable and aged of wizards. It consists of an ornate stone creation that is basically a goblet shape x 20 in size. A wizard can extract memories from his cranium using his wand. Memories look like silvery whispers when they come out. These memories can be stored in bottles until circumstances require that they are to be remembered. At this point, the memory can be poured into the Pensieve, and the memory is re-entered by not only the wizard himself, but any friends he or she chooses. I have chosen you.