Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Pictures Round 1

The Hexagon Rocks:

Dunedin seen from the top of Mt. Cargill:

Me chasing sheep:

My roommate Alex loves to take "jump pictures," here is one of me:

St. Clair's Beach:


My First 3 Weeks

Hey all, my time in New Zealand has been crazy and so much fun up to this point.  I feel like I am always doing something or about to go somewhere.  School is very easy, it only takes 50% to pass, and my grades don't really count so it has left a lot of time for adventure.  My Kiwi hosts are great, I love the people I'm living with, and all the other DU people here.  Driving on the other side of the road is a little crazy, took me a little to adjust and I would be lying if I said I haven't turned onto the wrong side of the road and immediately corrected myself.  I've had tons of fish and chips, they are huge out here. I'll list a couple of the things I have done in the last 3 weeks...

  • I entered an eating competition at Velvet Burger, ate five burgers between at team of 3 in around 5 or 6 minutes... we were 10 seconds off winning a $50 bar tab, but more importantly, we got free lunch.
  • I have been surfing a couple of times.  I can get up for a second before I fall off, pretty funny but I'm getting it.  Brianna has been my tutor and has taken my to two sweet beaches to surf at, thanks a lot Bri!
  • I spent a week up at the mountains in a place called Wanaka.  We snowboarded at Cardrona two days.  The first was very misty, could barely see a couple feet in front of me but it cleared up some the second day and that was much better.  The entire mountain is above the tree line which is a little crazy, very different from Colorado but I can't wait to go back.  For spring break we are competing in this collegiate games festival up there so that will be a week long of craziness.
  • Me and Greg climbed a mountain called Mt. Cargill and then went to see something called the organ pipes which are a bunch of identical hexagon shaped rocks... I'll try to upload a picture.  Also me and a neighbor named Liza went on a very muddy hike through a forrest/mountain area that was pretty sweet.
  • Me, my flatmates, friends, and neighbors went to an All Blacks game which is the national New Zealand rugby team, it was really crazy and the whole town was alive.  Unfortunitly we lost to South Africa but it was tons of fun anyways.
  • The nights have been crazy, I'll say that.  Everyone here likes to party and there is a fun downtown area.
Well thats it for now, I'll try to put up some pictures so everyone can see what I'm talking about.  I miss all my friends and family and wish everyone the best.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

First Entry

Hi all, I thought a blog might be a good way for me to share pictures and stories about my travels with everyone.  I'm in New Zealand right now and am having a great time exploring the country with my new friends (and some I already know because there are about 15 DU students here).  I'll put some pictures up soon.