Summiting at Sunrise (with help from Balto)

This past weekend my friends and I conquered Mount Fyffe, one of the higher peaks in the mountain range located a few kilometers away from the convent. (For my Adirondack-acquainted audience, Mt. Fyffe is as high as Mount Marci – a mile or so high).  Paige, Sophie, Halle, and Amy and I left mid-afternoon and hiked up the front path – a perpetually steep trail that made us work for every step. We reached the hut by four, very happy to be done with our leg-burning workout. 

A lot of New Zealand tourism comes from “tramping”, their term for hiking. But I just can’t seem to get that word switch down. To me tramping sounds like something I would be ashamed of. 

ANYWAYS. The Department of Conservation has built these huts at various points along trails, and they are quite cozy accommodations – 8 bunk beds and a stove. So the 5 of us settled into the hut, waiting for our other friends to join us…

So, our three guy friends had left earlier that morning, deciding that they wanted to take the back way up the mountain. But… they got terribly lost, ended up hiking for 8 hours straight, including climbing up a rock face and sliding down a screefield, ripping their pants, and “almost dying”. So when they crawled into the hut, they collapsed on their beds in delirium saying “you don’t know what we’ve been through”. It was quite entertaining. They didn’t appreciate their pain in that moment, but believe me, they loved telling the stories when we got back.

We watched the sunset from the hut, gobbled up our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and then tried to get some sleep.

Kaikoura Peninsula

Our hut. (Bathroom/outhouse on the left)

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?!?!?!?!

 

We woke up at 5 am the next day. Yes, 5 am. And we hiked under the stars, through the SNOW, to see the sunrise from the summit. It took us another hour and a half of strenuous hiking to get up there. And I was, no joke, channeling my inner-Balto to get through that knee-deep snow. But the view and the experience was definitely worth it!

The girls at the summit

Darin, Jonny and Gabe, in all their glory.

Trying to get any warmth from the sun.

The weather was perfect for our Fyffe hike, which we were grateful for because this whole week has been rainy! We finished our final week of sustainable community development class, which has given me a lot to think about as far as future plans. So this is a forcibly inside-weekend... although now I’ll have to bike back to the convent in the rain. This is what I go through to keep in touch with all you fine folks. But it’s worth it. Hope you’re all doing great! Miss you!

Across Cook Straight to the North Island

Last week was a more hands on/experiential/let’s-do-this kind of approach to Sustainable Community Development. We took a beautiful 3-hour ferry ride to the North Island and settled down  for a week stay into Lower Hutt, a town on the outskirts of the larger city of Wellington.

We stayed in a marae (Maori meeting house) which was tight on space but bursting at the seams with wonderful Maori people who knew a thing or two about hospitality. After performing the powiri process (singing a song, speech, nose-to-nose greeting called a hongi) we became “one of them”. The cool thing about this marae is that it was also a church, so we had some good fellowship as well!

A few highlights from the trip…

Our first day was a free day to explore Wellington – the first stop being Te Papa Museum, said to be the best museum in New Zealand. And it definitely was! Lots of cool exhibits on the history of NZ, as well as awesome natural history and interactive exhibits.

my best buds

Showing how great humans are at destroying the planet.

A COLOSSAL SQUID!!! It was captured in NZ in February 2010. Very cool. 

 

We even learned a haka, which is what the Maori people used to do before going into battle to try and intimidate their enemies. It is also performed by the NZ Rugby Team, the All Blacks (check out this link to see for yourself. Which is a perfect segue into Friday’s highlight…

GOING TO A RUGBY WORLD CUP GAME!!!!!!!!!! USA VS. AUSTRALIA!!

I admit, I had no idea the US had a rugby team before coming here, and my guess is you didn’t know either. Which is probably best, because we’re pretty terrible. At least we have football (they call it “gridiron” here). Rugby is enjoyable to watch, because its 80 minutes of non-stop action. Very different from football, where 2:30 minutes can take over 20 to finish. Anyways, the USA had so much support, because all the kiwis in attendance were rooting for us (because seeing the Aussie convicts win would be just about the worst thing for a kiwi)! NZ and AUS are the 2 teams expected to be in the final, and I’m a permanently biased NZ supporter now. Even though we were a fan favorite, we still lost a pathetic 5 points to 60. Cherry on top = our only try (touchdown) was scored by a South African native. Being at the game was still awesome, and I got to be a part of a super long wave that went all around the stadium.

Wellington Stadium

Dressed up for the game. I found an Aussie shirt and made the kangaroo all bloody. GO AMERICA!

 

 

 

Some idiot tried to streak. He didn't get far. 

 

 

 

At the moment I don’t feel like elaborating on what happened in between Monday and Friday. Overall it was a good week that kept my interest most of the time – meeting with the city council about development, hearing speakers about housing and imprisonment, meeting the mayor, etc. I’ll be writing a paper about it next week, so if community development is your thing, then ask me to send it along.\

Anyways, this week is Environmental Literature – taught by a crazy hippie from Oregon. I’ve actually really gotten into creative writing - something about New Zealand is inspiring all this creativity in me that has perhaps been stifled while in the stress of school.

Below is a poem I wrote, that I’ve titled The Dance. It was inspired by how I spent my last Monday afternoon, sitting on the beach watching my friend surf. Enjoy!

I sit on the misplaced log

                uprooted, bleached, and weathered.

Where had it come from?

The ocean had thought the trunk to be a delectable piece of Turkish Delight

                then spit it out in deceived disgust.

The ocean’s unwanted candy became my gnarled throne

From my sturdy seat, nature performed before me.

The domineering waves shoved the black stones about –

a thunderous rumble rising from the rocky combat.

Waves I have seen before – their blue is nothing new.

But when this emerald Ocean asks the diamond-studded Mountain to dance,

their partnership transcends all that I knew of the elements while apart,

sending sparks into my spectating eyes.

A man wearing a black fitted suit rides the ocean’s swirling flirtations

                as if trying to cut in on the dance.

Sometimes the waves give in,

Allowing the love-struck man the exhilaration he seeks.

But the Mountain’s beauty could easily reclaim the Ocean’s eyes,

                letting the suitor fall.

I watch the three from my Turkish trunk,

never wanting the dance to end.