i like watching the puddles gather rain

i live on a tiny little one-way street that parallels the leith river, which runs through campus and north dunedin. there on no flats on the leith side of the street, so i have a great view out my window.

this is what the leith looks like on a normal, dunedin day:



[photo courtesy of wikipedia]


and this is what the leith looks like after it's been raining for about 36 hours:








i also received some rather alarming/funny (depending on whether or not you have a car parked on said street, which i do not) emails about the situation on my street:

"Police have just advised that a major slip has occurred to the bank along [name of street - sorry, can't be advertising such things so publicly].
Several cars have been left teetering on the edge of the slip. Emergency services are in attendance and action is underway to recover these vehicles.
If you have parked your car anywhere on [security edit again], please check and if necessary take the earliest opportunity to move it to safer ground."

and later,

"Due to the high risk, staff and students are strongly advised to stay at least 5 metres away from the banks of the Leith. Debris and trees floating down on the river present a particular hazard, and there is little clearance below the bridges."

and then pictures to accompany:



[courtesy of an outc member]


[the aftermath]


did i mention that it's still raining outside? that's over 48 hours of continuous rain. our street is still blocked off, but hey, my flat isn't flooding. yet.

find a rock and fling it far above the rocky mountains

this past week was easter holiday here in dunedin, where basically the whole country gets a week long vacation. it is more popular to take a holiday over easter because christmas falls right in the middle of summer, i.e. tourist season, and so, to avoid all the tourists, most kiwis travel over easter.

i was lucky enough to have my family come visit. our holiday conicided perfectly with my mom's spring break. it's really hard for her to get away, being principal and all, so it worked out quite nicely for them to come.

they weren't arriving until sunday (because even when you leave friday in the states, you don't arrive in new zealand until sunday), so i had friday and saturday completely free. a guy from the tramping club (rob), my friend sean (who also came with butler) and i had no commitments until sunday, so we decided to go tramping somewhere.

we did a poor job of organising it, and i ran into sean thursday night and he said to show up at his house at 6 am the next morning and we'd go somewhere.

so rob, sean, and i headed off to the rock and pillar range, which is only about an hour northeast from here, near the town of middlemarch. we probably should have only done a day hike, since it was only three hours to the hut, but we had a good time anyways.

the drive there was gorgeous, since it was so early in the morning, allowing us to see the sun rise and the clouds were still low over the valley.





[eerie effect of low clouds making the valley look more like the ocean]


we got to the base of the mountain around 8:30 am or something ridiculous like that and set off. the hike was through a farmer's land along a farming road, with cows and deers running around and over some tussock grass. a very nice walk up, steadily climbing up, but nothing too vigorous.

the day was clear, sunny, and absolutely beautiful.



[view from above the hut looking back over the valley]


we arrived at the hut around noon, so had lunch and lay in the sun, soaking up what seems like a very rare sunshine. i completely understand why people worship the sun.

about three hundred metres above us was the top of the range, and, as the name suggests, it is completely covered with clusters of rock formations. so after our siesta, we left our packs at the hut (the "leaning lodge", a very fitting name, i had to reposition myself at night so all the blood didn't rush to my head) and headed up to explore the rocks. both sean and rob are geology people (snore), and i just think that these rock formations are cool looking, so we definitely enjoyed our walk at the top.







[the rock and pillar rendition of american gothic]


[see that peak that juts out above the rest of the mountains? that's mt. cook. my first glimpse of the southern alps!]


that night we attempted to make a fire in the absolutely ancient stove, but couldn't get any sort of vacuum going to get the smoke to actually go up and out the chimney, and instead succeeded in filling the hut with smoke. we figured out why it wasn't working almost an hour later: a big hole in the back. whoops. but we managed to have fun and not freeze to death by playing cards for a few hours before going to bed.

we also caught the moon rising





we rushed back to dunedin on saturday in time for me to stop by the farmer's market and buy tons of fresh produce for my family and for sean to leave for his south island tour vacation.

it was great to get away for the night and get a small tramp in.

pictures from my family's visit later...

you say it's your birthday

you say it's your birthday
it's my birthday too - yeah
they say it's your birthday
we're gonna have a good time
i'm glad it's your birthday
happy birthday to you

yes we're going to a party party
yes we're going to a party party
yes we're going to a party party

i would like you to dance - birthday
take a cha-cha-cha-chance - birthday
i would like you to dance - birthday
dance

you say it's your birthday
well it's my birthday too - yeah
you say it's your birthday
we're gonna have a good time
i'm glad it's your birthday
happy birthday to you


[i can't help singing the above song to myself on my brithday. it's a family tradition. and it might be a few days later, but i'm posting pictures from my birthday, thus the bursting into song]

as mentioned, a group of us threw together a trip to the two thumbs range (you'll see the "two thumbs" theme in a lot of pictures) four hours before we left. it was the only spot that we were guaranteed it would not rain - tussock covered mountains, all off track, through a station's grounds, so we got permission to stay.

we arrived late friday night and set up our fly. as soon as we got underneath and into our sleeping bags, it began to rain. and continued to for the rest of the night, into the morning. we decided to give it a go anyways, and right as we set out the rain lifted, revealing snow covered peaks rising above golden, tussock covered mountains.





we started across the valley and then up into the hills.



[tussock covered hills]




[mountains over lake tekapo]


after stopping for lunch near a stream so we could refill our water bottles (yup, thats right, you can drink the water straight out of the streams here), we climbed up onto a ridge that we followed up into the snow and over stag saddle.



[stag saddle]


[dave and i along the ridge]




and then down the other side of the range through a valley to royal hut.





royal hut was fantastic. it's pretty small, only eight bunks, but had a stove we could use and the owner even had wood for us all chopped up, toilet paper, and some milk in a tube (ugh). it had such character and personality, something a lot of the bigger huts lack. the hut system here is pretty amazing - not only are their huts along all the great walks and those maintained by doc (department of conservation), some people even maintain them on their own land and allow you to tramp over it (like this one).

anyways, as soon as we got there, it started to snow outside. as we started to get settled in, rich starts pulling out stuff for my birthday: balloons, a "happy birthday" tablecloth, party hats, a 3L box of wine (which must have been effing heavy in his pack), and a homemade marbe birthday cake complete with candles.

i was in shock. completely surprised. and touched.

it was a really really nice thing for him to do.

so we threw a party:







[don't ask. we were amused. and this picture is just too funny to not post.]


drank wine, ate cake and 2 liters worth of instant pudding in addition to dinner, sat around talking and laughing.

it couldn't have been a better way to celebrate my birthday in new zealand - in a hut, tramping, with snow falling outside.

when we woke up sunday morning, it was to white out conditions, but as the morning went on and we prepared to leave, the sun came out and the clouds disappeared. total, we probably had about four inches of snow, but off we went anyways.



[royal hut amidst white out conditions]


[the sun reappearing]


the goal was to get back to the van without retracing our steps, se we set off up a different mountain. it was excellent. tramping through the snow is great, great fun. it was also deep enough to cover the tussock, a relief, since tussock is such a pain to walk through. especially when you're going straight up.







i spent a lot of time walking with dave, a kiwi guy, because he and i were usually a bit ahead of the others. he led while we were climbing upwards and reached the peak a minute before i did. and i heard the "whoop" from above me. and i got up to the top and turned around and understood his exclamation immediately.





it is ... exhilirating to be at the top of a mountain and look down and be able to trace your path all the way down and into the valley. to look down and watch the people behind you also reach the top and then it is only seven people, in seemingly the entire world, on top of this peak, with the wind trying its damnedest to knock you off its domain, off this height, and the entire world seems to be spread below you.

i can't describe the feeling; it simultaneously humbles and exhalts you.

it is magic.

once we were on the top, we looked down the other side to see a straight drop off, probably 300 m or so straight down. we figured it was just snow covering scree, and so ran down it.





[brief break]




nothing quite like struggling for a few hours up to 2000 m to just turn and run down a great number of those in fifteen minutes.

and then it was back into the lake tekapo valley and out of the snow.



[oh goodness]




[through a field of hay stacks. that's the tramping club president on that bale]


[the deer of a deer farm. yes, deer farm]


it was fabulous. an absolutely fantastic, wonderful trip. i managed to hobble my way through the soreness yesterday, and can't wait to get back out again.

shearing sheep and butchering trees

[first, thanks to everyone who sent me some sort of a happy birthday wish :)

thoughts on turning 20 (and not 21 like most of my friends are this year):
it is going to be strange to be able to drink here and then have to go back to the states where i can't
my excuse of "being just a teenager" no longer works when i do something idiotic
but at the same time, i am quite quite happy not to be a teenage anymore]

i didn't spend my brithday on some remote peak in doubtful sound as was the original plan. a huge horrid storm hit the west coast this weekend and so the trip got cancelled. a big group of us were keen to get away anyways and just try to avoid the horrid weather, so at 1 pm on friday afternoon, we threw together a basic trip to the two thumbs range, east of the main divide and mt. cook (so hopefully no rain), and left around 6. now if that isn't last minute planning, i don't know what is.

we're set to do a picture exchange tomorrow during happy hour, so hopefully i will post pictures from this weekend sometime later this week.

but! i have pictures from my farmstay for today.

butler (i.e. the program i came through) organised "a country life weekend" for all of us, where we divided up into groups of four or so and went to stay at a farm in central otago, to get an idea of what farm life is like. a good idea i think, considering that there are 40 million sheep and 4 million people in new zealand.

my group was four girls total: me, avery (a girl from bc), samma, and ralynn. we stayed at a tiny tiny little farm near balclutha - about 40 acres and only 150 sheep [some people were at farms with over 10000 sheep, so yes, this one was quite small). barbara and louis have owned the place for 28 years and are both retired school teachers, so the farm is basically a side project for them. louis is quite obviously an ex-science teacher - he was constantly telling us random facts and having us try new things and play with fire and the electric fences.

it was a pretty good weekend (not as good as butler had hyped it up to be, but still, quite nice to get out of dunedin and spend a fairly relaxing weekend at a real home with comfy beds and good food and company).

the first night, louis took us out on a tractor for a tour of the farm and let us fire his shotgun. i'd never fired a gun before, so i was pretty excited. and he talked to us about the dynamics of running a farm. obviously, with only 150 sheep, this farm is tiny, but at the same time, louis was able to give us a good idea of what the business is like. it sounds like a really difficult business - a ton of work goes into shearing sheep, for example, but you don't get much money for it. not to mention all the little political things between the government and farmers.

their farm is built onto a hill with fantastic views of the clutha river:





and what is a farm without a ridiculous looking pig?



[if you look closely, you can see that this guy has teeth sticking out of the side of his mouth, horizontal to the ground]


and ducks?



[such fun to feed. there was also one, solitary nanny goose that watched over her horde of ducks]


louis has also planted pines in areas of his farm to sell - as firewood and planks for construction. we helped to "kill and butcher a tree" - by using chainsaws to cut it down and then chop it up. i tried splitting wood with an ax and barely even made a dent. using a splitter is so, so much easier.





[actually doing work]


and the sheep! so stupid and yet so fun. it really just made me laugh to watch them run around and remember "mutton bustin'" from the tucson rodeo - the little kids with their helmets trying to ride sheep. hahaha. (and that might just be a tucson thing.....)





[look at those bangs]


[the poor sheep looks dead ... being shorn does not look like a fun business]


all in all, it was a pretty good weekend.

heartbreak hill

a recent conversation with brad:

"we are definitely going to have to find some good places to go for walks/hikes this summer. i mean, obviously the beach ... but we need some east coast "mountains" too"

"haha i like that you put it in quotes"

"they're not real mountains. how high is the highest peak on the east coast? does it even get above the alpine line?"

"mm probably not"

"they're just hills. people here would just laugh"

"oh man, i can't even imagine what their reaction would be. definitely one of laughter, mixed with some incredulity"

"ok, so mt. mitchel in north carolina is over 2000 m, which is still only a hill."

[mt mitchel is the highest peak on the east coast, good 'ole wikipedia]

"we have heartbreak hill in boston. that has an incline"

"that doesn't count. it's a ROAD!"

what fun

for my study break today, i went to happy hour at the cook (local student pub) with the tramping club. two hours and one beer later, here i am back at the library.

on the way there, a guy rode past me on his unicycle. i had no idea people rode unicycles anymore. crazy.

i'll try to get pictures of my farmstay up soon, but i'm going to doubtful sound with the tramping club 7-10 april, so no promises.