not all those who wander are lost

28 February 2006

things behind the sun

the tramping club's first tramp was up mt. cargill, which is within walking distance of dunedin.

view as walking up the trail

the trail

view of dunedin from the top

view of the peninsula from the top

bush (note how thick)

pine forest which is entirely a result of humans. there are no native pines in new zealand. this forest used to be bush that was burned down and then these were planted for forestry reasons (a lot of them have orange marks on them as markers for them to be cut down soon)

and finally a picture of otago, although only one because i haven't gotten around to taking anymore.

the clocktower building and leith river

the left side

during plant ecology practical today, the lab boss asked for volunteers to drive vans for our field trips. she specifically asked me (i was in a different room getting my hand lens so was walking into the discussion half way through), and wanted to know if i had a license.

"yes, but i don't think anyone wants to drive with me"

i'm the only international in the class and she informed me that my usa drivers license was good for the first twelve months i'm here.

"well, yes, but i don't think you'd want to drive on the left side of the road with me"

general laughter and agreement with that sentiment.

[although, i must say, that i would like to try it out at some point while i'm here. and that, proudly, i'm getting used to walking on the left side of the sidewalk and looking right before crossing roads. i almost got hit by a taxi the other night, but no real disasters (yet)]

26 February 2006

drumroll, please

so.

i have (thus far) taken about 200 pictures. and am in the process of uploading them to my webshots site (see link on left, named "pictures"), but have also decided to post a few of my favorites on this blog, and will continue to do so throughout my semester.

a "few" means about

.....

forty.

so i'm going to apologize right now, but i have no self control (and actually if you think about it, 40 out of around 200 is pretty good). i also tend to be quite detail oriented in my photography, but will work on taking "big picture" photos to indicate a bit more where i am actually am and what not.

none of the below pictures are of dunedin, but those will be coming soon as well.

as mentioned, the rest will be added sporadically to webshots if you would like to see all of them.

and now, without further ado:

auckland:

auckland skyline from the harbor

view of street from myer's park (near my hostel)

lanterns in albert park

sky tower from albert park

sky tower from base

tutukaka (where i finished my certification harbor)

yes, those are cows on the beach near tutukaka

view down the beach near our hotel

view from the water

inside the cool house, wintergarden, auckland domain

close up

ferns at fernz fernery

(random, i know, since i'm not including the picture of the government house. just note the qualifier on the sign, i was amused)

mt. eden volcanic cone

view of auckland through mt. eden's cone

view of one tree hill from mt. eden

up one tree hill

view of mt. eden from one tree hill

view of south harbor from top of one tree hill

devonport street, beach, art gallery

sailboat races in auckland's north harbor

ditto

butler orientation at shakespear lodge:

waterfall in 'waterfall gully'

a koru, the uncurling fern, unofficial symbol of new zealand and maori culture

light north island bush (most of the time it's too thick to get any good pictures)

view of shakespear park (part of). the lodge i stayed it is on the right hand side above the beach. you can also sort of see the sky tower (and auckland) in the distance