The Home Stretch

"But it is not your own Shire," said Gildor. "Others dwelt here before hobbits were; and others will dwell here again when hobbits are no more. The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out."
-Gildor

Firstly, I would like to apologize for my lack of posts. Life has picked up speed, and it is only now that I have time to sit down and jot down some thoughts.

The past 3 weeks has mostly been made up of a road trip to the west coast and north central NZ. This was all a part of my Ecology class. I will try to keep this short, but that will be difficult because the west coast trip was by far my favorite experience in NZ.

The first week was spent with Dr. Eric Lindquist of Messiah. His motto was "You can sleep when you die". He is one of my favorite people of all time. And for that first week and a half, I did not sleep. We stayed a few nights in Charleston, a "quaint" motor lodge next to an absolutely gorgeous lagoon. We spent some time hiking and learning about the natural habitat of NZ. We eventually packed up our gear and headed off to Bruce Bay, where we stayed in a maurea (i can't spell it, it's pronounce mur-i). We stayed on a beautiful beach, lined with stone towers. We hiked to a glacier, skipped rocks on a lake in the middle of a beach, and went kiwi-birding! Man it was so cool to slink through the dark, trying to be as silent as possible. We heard a few kiwis, but didn't see any. We did learn a fun game though-i fondly call it "use a lazor pointer to spot possums then hit them with a van". It's a good game-we wracked up a few points (and saved the environment at the same time)

Another long car ride and we headed inland through Arthur's Pass to Cass. Here we stayed at the University of Canterbury's field research station. This is one of my favorite places in the world. I can't even describe the scenery other than to say it was literally like living on the Lord of the Rings set. I saw some beautiful sunrises and sunsets, read the Hobbit on the roof, learned about Kea research, ran through a hill of flowers that smelled like peaches, and prayed on a ledge that overlooked the entire valley. Oh we also went caving! We hiked for an hour or so through a river that ran through a pitch black cave! The water was at times chest high-but that only made it more awesome. We climbed another mountain and did more kiwi-ing (with no luck). Every morning (or just about) we woke up with the sun to go normal birding. We really never did sleep :)

Dr. Lindquist left and in came Dr. Sheldon. We began our independent research projects, which meant lots of time in the field (getting sunburned and scratched). More kiwi-ing, more hiking, and more plant identification.

Since returning to Kaikoura, I have seen some amazing stars, played in another rugby game, turned in my last undergrad paper, built an awful birdhouse, and eaten a fantastic thanksgiving dinner. Now, with less than a week left, things are falling into place. I'm slowly becoming more excited about coming home, although the pain of leaving is still very real. I expect this next week to be a roller coaster of emotions.

ps. i went hunting and it totally rocked (even though i didn't shoot anything)

Things I learned:
1. Sleep when you die, squeeze the sponge, what would make the best story? All of these sayings push you to live a more exciting life (in moderation :) )
2. board games are fun
3. one of the keys to being happy is to love where you are when you are there. learn from the past and look forward to the future, but be present in the present.
4. don't let thanksgiving left overs sit in the trashcan for a week.
5. doing chores as a group can really bring people together
6. using a pocket knife while listening to country music makes you feel really BA
7. Kaikoura is not my home. My room in the Convent is not my room-it will belong to someone else next month. I look forward to "home"

that's really all :) it is late and tomorrow is a long day!