Before I update ya'll on the last couple weeks, I want you to take a moment and ponder something: Groundhog day.

Got that? Now imagine trying to explain this day to people who have not grown up in a country that for some reason or another, has decided it is perfectly acceptable to have a nationally recognized day in which the duration of winter is determined by whether a burrowing, oversized rodent catches sight of its shadow.... It’s an experience, let me tell you. They have seen the movie and they have questions.  “No we don’t get school off for it.” “No we don’t believe the groundhog actually has control of the weather” “yes there is an actual groundhog and yes they do often print the results in the newspaper the next morning.” You guys, groundhog day is doing little for America’s credibility. 

It has been an exciting couple of weeks! Last Friday I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Wellington Brewery Festival: Beervana, and was provided with free entrance to one of the sessions. Coming from a town with a decent sized brewery, I was really excited to learn more about the companies and micro breweries in Wellington and surrounding areas. I was able to attend a couple of seminars and hear from the brewers as well as sample some specialty brews and local food. I have never witnessed so many beards in all my life. We’re talking the-traitor-known-as-Brian Wilson style beards. I wish I had pictures...but that seemed uncomfortable. It was a really nice way to spend a rainy afternoon (the festival, not the beard watching, although that was cool too) and a genuinely cool experience. That evening, I met up with a couple of friends and we headed downtown to listen to a live jazz trio at a local cafe. After a chai and some time listening to the group, we headed to Cuba street for the Friday night food market. We hadn’t made it to the market before and it was only a matter of minutes before we all agreed that it would become a weekly event for us. A delicious roti wrap, chimney cake and some time spent listening to street musicians and chatting later, and I was a very happy girl. After so many weekends out of town, it was great to be able to stay and enjoy Wellington for the night. 

Saturday I woke early for swim practice. I make note of this for one reason: for the first two minutes following my alarm, I hate, hate, hate mornings with an absolute, furry filled, burning passion. I am pretty much a raging storm of anger and disappointment... just a vey sedentary one. After two minutes, I’m totally fine. That said, I believe it is a great accomplishment that I have managed to make it to the pool in the morning at all and just feel the need to publicly congratulate myself for this feat. 

climbing things 

After an earth shatteringly productive morning in which I managed to swim, shower, get produce from the market, clean my room, and do laundry, I headed out with some friends to the far end of the Wellington region for a nice walk at the Red Rocks Reserve. The name is pretty self explanatory: there is a formation of red rocks sticking out of the ocean and its a protected reserve. The walk/hike was a bit longer than we anticipated as the trail head was 4.5 km from the bus stop and not the 2 that we had read online. Regardless, the trail wound along the coastline and was, like everything here, absolutely gorgeous. I would say rain clouds came in as we were walking but to be honest, they were pretty well established before we even got on the bus to begin with. Luckily, the weather remained pleasantly dry and we were excited to find lively tide-pools and fun climbing rock formations along the trail. There is a surprisingly large seal colony that lives a little past the red rocks during the winter and with the wind picing up, I was incredibly jealous of how comfortable they all looked sprawled out on the rocks, protected from the cold by their large blubbery midsections (do seals have midsections? I feel like they are composed of one oval of furry warmth with a face smashed in...). It was a great hike.   

seal! so cute! 

the walk to the rocks/seals 

tide pools! 

Sunday I was scheduled to spend 5 hours helping with the tear down for Beervana but was sent home after just two hours of washing dishes. Considering I had been expecting five hours in the rain, hauling beer stained folding tables and bar stools, this was pretty much the best news I could have received. My early excusal meant I got to go to the market for groceries before it closed (yes, that is in fact three days of markets in a row, but the grocery stores are so much more expensive!), make it to church, and work on an essay for class; because, despite appearances: I do actually go to school.

Wellington wind turbine

The rest of the week was relatively uneventful: swim, class, bible study/surprise engagement party, swim, run, more class and writing of papers: a pretty normal week. Friday morning I turned in an essay and then walked up to the botanical gardens for some quiet time. I had been wanting to hike up the Wellington Wind Turbine but the weather was supposed to be pretty ugly. By the end of my quiet time however, the skies had cleared, the sun was out and it had turned into by far the nicest morning of the week. I decided I really had nothing better to do (other than write another paper...which could totally wait) and set off in what I assumed was most likely, maybe-kind-of, more-or-less-so, in the right direction. This is pretty much my go-to philosophy for getting around and so far, it has worked out quite nicely. The benefits of this flawless form of navigation are twofold; (1) I often get to see a different side of town than expected (on this occasion I toured the not yet visited, lovely Karori suburb), and (2) when I make it to my destination, I consider it a genuine accomplishment and am able to believe I have achieved something worthwhile for the day.  From the top of the hill/mountain, it’s possible to see the entirety of the city as well as a view of the other side of the ocean and harbor. It too-I know this is going to surprise you- was gorgeous.  

 The earthquakes started back up within an hour of my arriving back to my flat. I was in the kitchen making fried rice for lunch and suddenly, could not figure out why in the world the stovetop was making so much noise (if you’re not expecting the ground to move, it can be pretty disorienting). It took me a couple of seconds before I put it together, and then a few more before I realized I should probably do something other than stand in the middle of the kitchen filled with knives and frisbee shaped ceramic plates sitting at face level in not so sturdy shelves. I walked to our common room (don’t worry, I ensured my rice was a safe first...), dropped to the ground and immediately sat back up upon realizing I hadn’t dropped underneath anything. Naturally, the shaking and rolling stopped as soon as I made my way to under the kitchen table. The aftershocks were a fairly consistent fixture for the remainder of the day, with one or two measuring at 6.0 or higher. I’m not going to lie, the whole earth moving of its own accord is getting old real quick.  Earlier tonight, there was a 5.5 shake and my reaction was more or less to sigh heavily as I decided whether diving under my desk was really necessary. This is not a thought process I ever imagined I would have, let alone one I would have several times a day. 

So many beautiful books!

I joke, but in reality, I cannot think of anything I have ever experienced more unsettling than earthquakes. Unlike other natural disasters and storms, there is absolutely no warning when a quake starts. I have a slightly irrational fear that I will be in the shower next time there is a big one and will have to evacuate in a towel... With an earthquake over 6, we are told to expect at least a few days of aftershocks so I’m back to sleeping with a clear path to under my desk, a headlamp next to my bed and a severe aversion to all elevators and scaffolding. I have never been so aware of exactly what hangs over my head, where the nearest sturdy object to “DROP, COVER AND HOLD” with is located, or the precise number of steps to the nearest exit. If I were not doing the exact same thing, it would be highly comical to watch as people walk into a room and survey the ceiling and wall shelves before entering completely. There is a book fair this weekend with over 90,000 (NINTY THOUSAND!) books. They told us we were all brave and resilient for making our way into the city to support the fundraiser. I didn’t tell them that the entire city could be on fire while being attacked by the previously mentioned seal colony grown to Godzilla size,  and I would still be there. There were 90,000 books for the taking! I was in heaven as I spent a solid hour and a half with an equally book happy friend, combing through the tables. Unfortunately, it was in one of the sports arenas and as such, the flooring is the kind that you can move around depending on what the space is being used for. This means anyone who steps with even a little bit more pressure than normal causes the ground to vibrate slightly. Between this and people bumping into tables as they browsed, my experience at the fair involved a good deal of freezing in place, preparing to drop to the floor, and making awkward eye contact with everyone else as they did the same. Paranoia is real. As I have moments of not being able to tell if the building is moving or if I just breathed a little louder than usual, I have developed a highly sophisticated piece of technology that helps me determine the difference...a glass of water sits on the ground and if the water shakes I take comfort in knowing I’m not insane. 

signs downtown. Some are typed...

...some not

I went to the woods

Two weeks worth of updates can be summed up in two sentences with: I went to the woods and it was incredible. And, I have to cook entirely for and by myself so sometimes meals are a bit sketchy. 

Made it to the top! 

Last weekend the Arcadia group hosted a weekend trip to the South Island to hike and sea kayak the Queen Charlotte Sound track. We took the ferry over Friday morning and hiked until mid-afternoon. The hike was breathtakingly gorgeous and crossed through a variety of scenery. Our bags were taken in to camp ahead of us by car and so it was wonderful to walk up hills without the added weight of all our belongings. On Saturday we woke up relatively early and went over kayaking basics before setting across the sound.The water was beautiful and glass still in many areas. We could not have asked for more pleasant weather. We returned to camp where there were freshly baked cheesy biscuits and hot soup waiting for us (have I mentioned how impressed I am by Arcadia recently?). A group of us decided to hike up the hill/mountain behind camp to watch the sun set. About 30 minutes or so into the hike it was decided that we had all severely underestimated the climb (or overestimated our post-kayak trip hiking abilities). We were rewarded however, with a spectacular 360 degree panoramic view of the sound and surrounding area. I didn’t believe it could be much more beautiful until the next day when we climbed a portion of the same hill to discover we were above the cloud line. We hiked through the afternoon meandering above and below the clouds and were provided with a stunning show as we watched the mist and clouds pour through the valley into the sound. 

Hiking above the clouds

Sea Kayaking in the Sound! 

  

The hiking and Kayaking alone would have been enough to make the weekend incredibly memorable. What really pushed it over the edge however, was a discovery we made the first night. After hiking up the hill a ways in the dark to see the glow worms that live on the side of the hill (I am still yet to see a firefly but I can now at least say I have seen a bug that creates its own light source!), we headed down to the dock to watch the stars. The night sky on the sound was unlike anything I have ever seen before. The arm of the milky way stretches from one mountain top to the next with stars so bright and vivid it feels as though if you don’t tether yourself to the earth you may fall into the depths of the universes.  The entire group was laying out on the dock staring into this vast expanse of glittering light when someone leaned over to touch the ocean water. The resulting yells made us all think he had either fallen into the midwinter temperature water or was being consumed by Jaws. The water was bioluminescent! If you don’t know what that means google it or look up a video on youtube because my description cannot do it justice. Basically, there are algae or bacteria or something, that drift en-masse throughout the ocean in certain parts of the world, that light up when disturbed. Our entire group immediately launched ourselves to the side of the deck and hung over the edge tracing universes in the water through only the touch of a fingertip. It was possibly the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Bioluminescent water is something I have read about and seen in movies and documentaries but it never occurred to me that I may one day experience it in person. The second night, we discovered that spitting into the water also activated the lights and suddenly, this magnificent, scientific anomaly became one of the most hilariously entertaining things I have ever experienced.  I am not ashamed to admit that we spent a solid hour spitting into the water and giggling like children as ripples of light flowed from where our projectiles landed. Magical water. It doesn't get much better than that. 

So much rain. It's winter here. Have I mentioned that? 

Then I went to school for a week. I swam a bit. I went to parliament. I went to a museum (and saw the world’s only fully preserved giant squid!). I went to a few meetings and did some grocery shopping. And then this weekend I went back into the woods (or bush as its called here). 

The Victoria University Tramping Club is a highly active group on campus that goes tramping pretty much every weekend. Before any jokes are made at my expense, Tramping is the New Zealand equivalent of backpacking and not an adjective used to describe a female of questionable morals. I signed up for a trip scheduled to head out this past weekend and was sad to learn around Thursday evening that the weather was supposed to be horrid. The trip was cancelled but a group of students still wanted to go. I figured I could be cold in my flat or cold in the woods and so I joined them.  We left Friday evening and reached to trailhead around ten pm. I have never hiked at night before and I had a lot of fun. We arrived at the hut around one in the morning, changed from our soaked clothing into miraculously somewhat dry clothes in our packs, ate some trail mix and promptly fell asleep. Saturday we hiked for a couple hours before stopping for lunch at a hut along the trail. After food and a half hour sheltered from the constant rain, it was decided that none of us had any great desire to head back into the wind and rain and cold and we lounged around the hut for the rest of the day. It was really nice to just hang out, laugh, talk and warm by a fire in the middle of nowhere. Sunday morning, after about an hour of hiking we split into two groups. The first hiked out the way we had come in order to get the cars and the second hiked out a different way for a change in terrain and scenery. An inability to 1. drive stick-shift and 2. drive on the left side of the road from the right side of a car, meant that I got to join the second group. New Zealand hiking paths (or at least this one) resemble less of a path and more of a stretch of land that may or may not have less scrub, trees and river than the rest of the surrounding forest, marked ever so many meters by reflective orange triangles. Somewhere between the third hour of rainy hiking and the fourth river crossing, a person realizes that there exists a limit to the amount of water a raincoat and boots can absorb. It is also about this time that you stop trying to avoid puddles and mud holes. It is a great realization. I like to believe I am now professional at tripping, sliding and falling down. It was a fabulous weekend. 

Finally, the top 10 things (in no particular order) I have learned about myself and this world since leaving home:  

1. The “study” part of study-abroad may not be as optional as I had been pretending to believe. But! I actually really like my classes so this new reality isn’t too painful to accept. 
2. If you watch at a toaster, your bread will remain perpetually un-toasted. If you turn away for one millisecond, that same piece of bread will blacken to a color darker than the eyes of a cookie-less cookie monster and produce more smoke than an active volcano or Mordor under attack.
3. If you fear re-enacting several above mentioned Mordor-esque movie scenes but really want toast, putting butter on a piece of cold bread and folding it in half does not qualify as toast. It is essentially a butter sandwich. I am working hard to ensure this remains the low point of my culinary endeavors.  
4. I am not above instant coffee. I am so very far from being above instant coffee. 
5. New Zealand does not have bears, mountain lions, snakes, poison oak or ivy,  poisonous spiders (okay there is one somewhat dangerous spider but I hear it is not common), or basically any other creature that can maul, poison or harm you. It does have slightly pathetic but rather adorable flightless birds and giant grasshopper like bugs called wetas. This is exciting for several reasons, the least of which not being that I got to bring toothpaste and deodorant backpacking this weekend without securing them in a bear box obnoxiously far away from where I slept. 
6. You can walk into a place of business (grocery store, convenient store, etc) without shoes on and not be refused service and nor really even be looked at funny. The moment I learned this is also the moment I began researching requirements for dual citizenship applicants. 
7. In my experience, New Zealanders are a very articulate group of people whom seem to have a firm grasp of the English language and rhetorical devices. Despite this fact, they insist on using the phrase “sweet as” to describe something pleasing (its use is also extended to other adjectives and it is acceptable to say things such as “big as” or “cool as”). I find myself constantly repressing the urge to say “sweet as what?” and the other day, I went through a moment of self loathing when it was the only descriptor I could come up with the describe some event. 
8. If you go tramping two weekends in a row you will miss the farmers market two weekends in a row and come Monday morning will be forced to either pay full price for produce at the grocery store or eat only rice and hot chocolate for the rest of the week... 
9. A relatively good cure for homesickness is books. Preferably books from your childhood. This is also the perfect excuse to apply for a library card at the local public library... word to the wise: there is a chance your favorite childhood books will be re-written in New Zealand English spelling. This will not help with homesickness. 
10. Even Leviticus is smothered in the finger prints of God’s love. If a book filled with covenant laws and regulations can manage to reflect the love of a passionate God, this is a God I will follow across the ends of the earth and back.