Hey May, How's it hanging?

After my exciting trip to Tongariro at the end of April, the month of May was pretty calm. My roommates and I discovered a frozen yoghurt shop that we really liked called yoghurt story, so several trips were made down the street at night since it was one of the few places that stayed open until later than 7. I always got original flavor with some granola sprinkled on top. This is very different from my usual froyo habits in Boston of piling as much chocolate as I can in as many forms as it comes on top my my yoghurt. Why the sudden change in behavior? I don't know exactly but whatever the reason, it was nice to enjoy the actual taste of the yoghurt itself. 

 Back at work, I was still having a good time with Cate, although I couldn't believe that she had never even heard of Reese's before. That is one of my favorite candies! They didn't sell it in the food store but I found a convenience store down the street that sold them so I made sure to bring one in for her the next day. 

The BU group organized a trip for us all to go to Rotorua for a weekend, so that happened one of the first weekends in May. We all piled into a big coach bus and drove to the infamous sulfur smelling city. Rotorua  sits atop geothermal vents that release gases into the air, permeating everything with that classic egg smell. Luckily it went away pretty quickly once we got there and got used to it.

Some people went zorbing, which is one of New Zealand's unique thrill experiences where you're shoved inside a plastic ball and rolled down a hill, usually with a couple other people inside with you. I didn't partake because I tend to get motion sickness, but I did enjoy watching everyone dizzily push themselves out of the big ball at the end. Quite entertaining. 

Laura exiting her zorb

The rest of the weekend was really nice and pretty relaxing. We had filled up the entire section of a hostel, so it felt like a big family reunion all living in the same house. There was a barbeque the first night and leftovers the rest of the time. We played games, listened to music, and socialized with everyone that we didn't normally see in our everyday routines back in Auckland. It was also here that the seed was planted by my friend Dina for the idea of putting on a talent show at the end of the semester. She came up with the idea and together we approached everyone and pitched it to them, hoping for (and receiving!) an enthusiastic response. This was going to be so much fun!

The next day in Rotorua we went on a geothermal valley walk and saw some really cool vents and small geysers. There was one spot where we all shouted really loudly and it echoed throughout the entire valley. Very cool. Rotorua was a nice relaxing weekend spent in good company. 

Waimangu Volcanic Valley

Echo Lake

Walking through geothermal vents

At the end of May I volunteered at the Auckland City Photography Festival. I watched an exhibit and made sure none of the works were damaged and then I handed out gift bags and encouraged people to listen to the lectures being given by some prominent photographers in the Art Gallery. Unfortunately I wasn't able to listen to the lectures myself but it was a good experience all in all. And with that, faster than I was ready for, May was over and June was beginning. This would be my final month is New Zealand; how had 5 months passed so quickly?

Tongariro Solo Adventuring

April as a whole was not very eventful in terms of quantity, but I did have some quality experiences I wouldn't trade for the world. The everyday grind of classes, internship and socializing had become so regular, it was hard to remind myself that this was going to end and I would have to reenter reality soon. Cate and I had established a really nice rhythm of work and it all came so naturally as we performed all the usual tests. It makes me laugh to think back to the start when I was a nervous wreck hoping I wouldn't mess something up. Basically, life was good and so was the weather, although it was starting to get a little cooler as we headed towards winter. But sweaters and scarves are my favorite attire so I wasn't too upset about that.

One trip I had been really wanting to do since arriving in New Zealand was to visit Tongariro National Park and do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing; a day hike over volcanoes that promised some stunning views (well at least from the google images). 

Google Image of Tongariro National Park

The only problem was that I was afraid I'd waited too long for this particular endeavor since it was not the safest trek in bad weather and the weather was getting worse. We had a week off of classes/internships at the end of April, and I decided that I was going to do it, because if I didn't, I knew I would always regret it. Also, Mount Doom from LOTR is on this trek and there was no way I was going to come all the way to New Zealand and not visit Mount Doom, let's be serious. 

As I made plans for my trip, I realized that this was going to be my first real solo adventure which was pretty exhilarating. I booked my bus and hostel and packed my bags. The next day, not really knowing quite what to expect when I got there, I boarded my bus in Auckland and rode the 7 hours down to Tongariro National Park. On arriving, my shuttle driver pointed out all the volcanoes, but unfortunately there were all hiding behind a giant ominous spanse of gray rainclouds that threatened the success of my trip. My shuttle driver told all of us passengers that the rangers weren't letting people up on the volcanoes because of the dangerously high winds that could literally knock you off the top. She told us not to get our hopes up that they would let us go the following morning. Well that is certainly not something we wanted to hear. Needless to say, we were all pretty miserable once getting to the hostel. I met two girls on the bus that were staying in the same place so we chatted and played cards for the rest of the night after settling in. That night we went to sleep with fingers crossed for good luck that the weather would be forgiving. 

Success! 

When we awoke, the clouds were still dismal but huzzah! we were allowed to continue! I dressed in all the warm clothes I had and donned my raincoat but the hostel owner laughed and handed me a pure rubber rain slicker. "Trust me, you are going to be the coldest you've ever been in your life up there and you will thank me for this". With that encouraging sendoff we drove to the start of the crossing and began the journey.

The Beginning

 "If you're not back after 6 hours we are calling search and rescue, no discussion" said our shuttle driver who would return later to pick us up. Yikes, that didn't help much for my nerves. Oh well, here we go!

Half of the crossing was closed due to volcanic activity so we were only allowed to go so far before turning back. Unfortunately, the weather really was as bad as they said and we ended up having to turn back before that. We couldn't really see anything the entire trip anyways due to the rain clouds which was a real pity. But what did I expect? I was entering the depths of Mordor, it was supposed to be dangerous and challenging right? (I think I am taking this LOTR stuff too far). 

Our limited visibility

I was happy before we got to the top

 

While on the top of the mountains, the rain and wind ended up covering my legs in frost, and of course I forgot gloves. The hostel owner was right. I was so incredibly cold and my fingers were so swollen I couldn't even zipper my coat. I thanked her a million times in my head for that extra raincoat. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't had it. 

The start of Devil's Staircase

In the South Crater

The ring in Mordor!

Here's a short video I took after reaching the top of Devil's Staircase to give you an idea of how windy it was. (Mt. Ngauruhoe is Mt. Doom from LOTR)

We returned to the hostel and took hot showers that burned so deep but felt so good. Dinner, more cards and a movie were the order of the night and once bedtime rolled around we were all more than happy to turn in. Very exhausting, very cold, very extreme but very happy is how I would describe my experience at Tongariro. I pushed myself to places I'd never been and really left my comfort zone. I met new people and enjoyed some really great conversation. On the bus ride home the next day I sat next to a 10 year old boy who proudly told me his dad was an Orc in the LOTR movies. Ha what fun! We chatted and did some origami as the green hills rolled by, returning me to Auckland and the hustle and bustle of my every day.

Sidenote:

I have decided that I will return to New Zealand one day and when I do, I will complete the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in good weather and actually see it instead of just clouds.

An Apology for my Inconsistency

Hello again friends! 

I am so sorry I have been so bad at keeping this updated. It has been several months since my last post and so much has happened in that time. How have I been so cruel as to not share it with you? Well, I figure I should start where I left off and go from there. How does that sound? My last entry was from Easter weekend, so I will resume our tale in the month of April. Now if you would all kindly rewind your minds and join me there it would be much appreciated.

Ah, it is a beautiful sunny day in New Zealand and the birds are chirping. Or rather, they are hopping around my Auckland apartment as is known to happen all too often...grrr......

Easter Weekend with New Friends and a little bit of Chocolate

At the end of March, for Easter weekend, the University is closed from Friday until Tuesday, so I had a nice break of time. I decided to visit my new friend Ruby who lives up in the northern part of the Coromandel Peninsula.

Some of her friends in Auckland were also going up to visit the same weekend so I was able to get a ride with them. They picked me up and we set out for Ruby's. Her friends were Eva and Dom, really nice people! They both graduated from University of Auckland and we chatted about different things to do and see in Auckland. Along the way, we stopped at a fruit and veggie stand and I tried feijoas for the first time. Yum! 

Feijoas

Then we continued along and after a fish and chips stop in Thames, we took the coastal road that wound around the various curves of the mountains. Much of the road was eroding into the sea on one side and there was danger of falling rock on the other so we had to be careful on certain stretches of road. It was really nice to have a weekend away with all entirely new people, and to spend some quality time being able to talk about and understand some Kiwi perspective. About 2 hours into the drive, we stopped in Coromandel Town to pick up another girl named Aurora who was also going to visit Ruby. She is from Galicia, Spain and had brought her accordion along! How fun! I brought my pennywhistle too, so together we had some fun once we arrived.

 Ruby works at the Colville Cafe so we stopped there and saw her at work. Colville is a really small town. I was talking to some local fishermen and they couldn't believe how I had ended up in Colville from the US. After chatting for some time, we headed up to her home in the Karuna Falls Community about half an hour away. The community is composed of about 15 houses and has about 25 members. It's situated in a valley and is really gorgeous. Ruby's house is awesome! She has a big porch with a grapevine hanging over the entrance, all her electricity is from solar energy, there's lots of open space, and a beautiful garden. Her house was bustling with activity this weekend. It felt like a very interesting family reunion between people who didn't know each other but were all related in some way. Everyone had a connection through Ruby but we all hung out together and got to know each other. On Saturday we drank tea and relaxed. I taught some people origami (my constant companion is my envelope of painted origami paper, it comes with me everywhere - thanks mom!) and strung up some of the flowers we made into a chain for Ruby to hang up.

Announcement! I discovered a new tea that I am really enjoying, it's called Red Bush tea and the flavor is lemon and ginger. I had brought some cookies up, and tried out a gluten-free recipe for the gluten-free people what were there. Ruby's older sister was up for the weekend, and staying at her parent's house who live next door. Her two kids, ages 6 and 3 were adorable and kept us well entertained. We all went down to the beach right near their house and climbed the sand dunes for a breathtaking view. There were about 3 or 4 people on the big beach and Ruby and the kids were disappointed that it was so crowded. Haha that is certainly a different definition of crowded! I didn't take many pictures really on this trip but this is the beach:

Waikawau Bay

Later on, we cut up the bags and bags of apples that Ruby had and helped her bottle them into jars. The ones that wouldn't fit we set aside and made into an apple crumble. One of the people in the community had a pizza oven in their backyard and around 8pm we decided pizza for dinner was the order of the day! So we fired up the oven, and by the time everything was said and done we were sitting around a cozy pizza fire eating midnight pizzas. Very delicious, we had all kinds but mostly vegetable and gluten free. Retiring back to Ruby's I read a little and reflected on the day, then went to bed as the rain pounded outside, singing me to sleep. 

Sunday was Easter, and I awoke to some hyper children jumping on me while eating chocolate bunnies. We all got up and had some breakfast and Esther, Ruby's sister tried to teach me how to make a woven basket out of the flax in the yard. I had a really hard time with it and couldn't get past the bottom. She said it would be easier if I had pegs to hold the base down. She made a wonderful one and in the end gave it to me! It's sitting on my nightstand next to my bed.

I like to keep my tin whistle in the basket :-)

There was a big potluck lunch down at the community house so we brought chickpea curry and rice and walked down. Then Ruby hid chocolate eggs for the kids and Esther hid chocolate eggs for us! So we went hunting for these eggs around the main green. After resting and playing music and learning some hula dancing, we went on a hike up to the top of Karuna Falls where some people went swimming. It was really cold but really clear water. The view was also spectacular, it overlooked the valley and we could see some of the houses peeking out. 

 

We returned to Ruby's and drank more tea. Then we talked into the night. A bunch of people played music together and the rest of us played card games. We ate some dinner and then some more apple crumble before going to sleep.

On Monday we packed up our things and had a nice breakfast. Then we all went down to the beach again and from there headed out back to Auckland. The drive back was a little windy and I did get a little carsick but all in all it was a good drive. We stopped in Coromandel Town for a break and I tried garlic butter french fries which were amazing. We played a word association game in the car where you say two words and everyone has to guess what the connecting word is. For example, if I said hat and cut, the connecting word would be hair: hat hair and haircut. It was a fun game. We hit some traffic as everyone was returning to Auckland after a nice weekend away, and I got home around 8pm. 

No one was back yet in the apartment from their respective adventures, so I had the place to myself. Two of my roommates went to Wellington and the other one went to Australia. I did some laundry and unpacked then relaxed with you guessed it, more tea! and watched a movie then hit the bed. What a wonderful relaxing time. And most of the people I met live in Auckland so I will hopefully meet up with them again. I bumped into Aurora on campus and we decided we will definitely need to hang out more and play some more music together as well. She is really awesome. She writes stories and poetry and is always smiling. Now I am back in school for a couple weeks before another week off. I haven't planned anything for that week yet, but am working on it. I am more than halfway done with my time here. I cannot believe how fast the time is flying! I am missing everyone back home and hope you all are doing well. I love you so much!

Marching into the new Semester

After the amazing and exhausting South Island adventure at the end of February, I began my internship and class in March. More specifically, the day after getting back to Auckland! The class I am taking is an anthropology course called Music and Identity in World Music Cultures. It seems like it will be interesting so far, but too soon to tell.

 For my internship I am working with a researcher at the university, Cate Macinnis-Ng who is studying carbon and water fluxes in the Kauri Tree forests. She wants to see what the carbon  and water cycles are like in this environment since they haven't been documented before. With this information she is hoping to gain some insight into how they react to climate change and how they compare to other forest environments.  Because this summer there has been a drought in New Zealand, she is also able to use data to compare drought and wet conditions in the forest. Very interesting stuff! She works in the lab and out in the field gathering samples and performing tests at the field site in a Kauri forest 30 minutes from the city.

I happened to begin working at the time she conducts a week of intense 13 hour long field days that she does once a year. My first day at work she picked me up from the university at 5:30am and we drove out to the field site before the sun came up. I was kind of nervous for my first day, not sure what to expect or what I was expected to be able to do. We used our flashlights and carried the instruments up through the forest until we got to the site. We were soon joined by two other researchers who were also working on the study. In addition, three tree climbers arrived who were going up into the Kauri canopies to collect leaf samples for the tests. I was introduced to the group and we set about beginning the day's work. The tree climbers cut the samples and sent them down in a bag on their climbing rope, and then I ran the sample to Cate who tested their water pressure in a portable machine she had brought. It was quite simple; I needn't have been worried at all! I had to yell up to the climbers, Freddie, Rossi and Drew to tell them how many samples and what kind to get, which was a little harrowing at first, but became fun after several hours.

Our work shed at the field site

Sap flow sensors in trees and leaf litter collection basket

One of the scientists, Luitgard using the photosynthesis machine

Cate at the water pressure machine

Everyone was so nice that I was working with! The climbers were really cool and liked to joke around. Drew told me how he was hired to climb these trees in South Africa because the government wanted to know how tall they were, and while he was doing that he was bitten by a spider of some sort and almost lost his leg! Crazy! Also his team climbed an active volcano in Australia and they were featured on 60 minutes Australia. I enjoyed listening to all their stories and being so involved in the research process. Cate explained how everything was working and why. The days were long and tiring but productive and exciting at the same time. This was my first experience with fieldwork research!

 

I gave my camera to Freddie at one point and he took some pictures from up in the canopy of the trees. They were joking about letting me climb up one of the trees but we ran out of time unfortunately. Darn! I would have really like to do that!

That's me in the orange hard hat!

Freddie getting ready to go up

Drew up in a tree

After that first week, we said goodbye to our tree climbing friends and went back to the lab. Here we sorted leaf samples into different types of leaves and materials. We found some interesting things in there including a weta, a grasshopper like critter that can get huge in New Zealand. This was only a small one.

Small Weta

 

Before...

...And after!

The work is a little repetitive but I find it soothing and I am in good company with Cate so the time passes quickly. Every week we alternate between being in the lab and going out into the forest to do tests and collect samples. I like the change, it makes the job exciting. I like working with Cate. She is actually not from New Zealand, but Australia, and she happens to have grown up in Manly, the same area that my cousins are from! What a coincidence! Anyways I am also sometimes working with another intern from The Netherlands named Inga who is really cool. She is working on her master's degree currently. 

I ask a lot of questions about the project and last week I asked a question that Cate wasn't sure about, I wanted to know if the sample locations were consistently contributing the same amount each collection time. She decided to let me work on the project of trying to answer this question so we came up with a rough outline of how I would go about that and now I have my own little side project! How cool! I get to see if I can analyze the data in a new way that will contribute new information. This is my first time working on a research project, and Cate is letting me try to figure out my own questions, what a great learning experience! I am really loving my internship so far! Next week we are going back into the forest. I can't wait!