Monday, March 24, 2008

Tramping: An In-Depth View of New Zealand's Finest Bushes

Alright! Here it is--the long awaited details of my three days in New Zealand's wilderness. For those of you who don't know, Kiwis call hiking, 'tramping'. It's kind of strange, I'll admit, but that's just the way it is. Hopefully, as you read the details of our trip, you will realize the double meaning of my 'in-depth' view of the bushes. Read on, and enjoy.

Thursday, March 20

I was supposed to be ready to leave by 7am. Experience thus far has taught me that 7 am really means about 8. However, I was ready at 7 and just read good old Eldest. At 8:30, Jacapo came to the door. I threw my bag in the trailer and hopped into the van with my other eleven comrades; Cameron, Tyler, Jacapo, Ramsey, Taylor, Julia, Lisa, Katie, Megan, Janelle and Kathy. I couldn’t help but smile as I smelled incense and noticed Jacapo burning some in the front seat. Of course. The smell blended nicely with his 1920s smooth jazz CD playing in the van. Eventually, I used my iPod to drown that out.


The before picture: Look how clean and happy we all are!


We started our tramp at the Borland Lodge. For about three or four hours we ust walked up a gravel road. It was a nice, warm day and we sweated as we trudged along. We stopped for lunch at a beautiful river and about an hour later, Jacapo and Ramsey stopped the group, pointed up a mountain, and we started climbing. Yeah--straight up a mountain. It was fun mostly. By the time we reached the top, my legs were completely scratched up to my knees. For about two hours probably, we used strong grass and bushes to pull ourselves up the face of the mountain. Literally--the method was: stick both of your arms up, grab tufts of grass, find a good foothold and heave your body up and hope the grass you’re holding is stronger than it looks. When we got to the top, we had to inch along a ridge and up some more bushes and finally--we were at our camp. It was just some random, tall grass at the top of a mountain. We fond a decent spot for our tent and then cooked dinner.

Notice how you can't really see us. That's because, the bushes are so tall and there's no trail!



Our camp site. So...where do you camp? Exactly what I thought. But hey--it worked.


Taylor, Julia, Lisa and I all shared a three-man tent. I was plenty warm, thanks to a sleeping bag of Sue’s (thanks Sue!) but a large mound of grass in the middle of my sleeping area was preventing me from finding sleep. So… I didn’t really sleep. In the morning, we found out that none of us had slept. We should have all had a party. That would have been more fun--and a lot less frustrating.
Our lovely morning faces. We slept pretty poorly...

Day 2: Day of Frustration

The view in the morning. It was beautiful but...


...cold and windy.



Friday, March 21

In our food group of four (Lisa, Cam, Tyler and myself) we had oatmeal for two breakfasts. Well… we ate it all Friday morning. The wind howled all night, which also prevented me from sleeping, and it was no better in the morning. We struggled to take our tent down in it. Bundled up, we prepared to hike. Thinking the wind would be better if we weren’t on top of a mountain, I figured we’d be heading down as soon as possible. Not so. I followed Ramsey and Jacapo, our fearless leaders, up the mountain. The wind literally blew me over three times. Three!! Twice, it was just funny because the hill wasn’t that steep and come on--people falling over like bowling pins in a 40 lb pack is just funny. The third time however, wasn’t humorous at all because I was on a mountain peak! It was so windy. We marched up and over the highest peak of the mountain which was cool but frightening in that wind! Words can not even describe it. Cameron physically pulled Lisa and I down to the ground at one point, insisting that it was too dangerous for us to walk. So… we crawled up the mountain for a while.

Ok, if you look closely at the above picture, you can see us walking along the edge of the mountain. About where we're walking, is where we camped. See the tallest peak of the mountain in the picture? That's the one we decided to walk up and over.



Remember that peak? There it is.


Once we started down the other side of the peak, the wind died down a little bit. We also found that the best way to get down the mountain was to get on your backside, put your feet up and slide. Effective--and fun. When Green lake and the hut came into sight, Cameron, Tyler and I just wanted to be there so we started down the mountain. The rest of the group took a different--and smarter--way down. We picked our way through a creek all the way down to the bottom. As we tramped/slid, I expected the hut to appear closer. It didn’t happen. At one point, I was pretty convinced that it was a mirage. That and the lack of trail by that point had driven me to utter frustration. Cameron was leading our small group of three and I started yelling at him to stop going around the mountain and just go down the mountain at one point. I just wanted it to flatten out--and it wasn’t happening! Finally, it was flat but every other step through the waist high tufts of grass landed my foot in a mud hole. By that time, all three of us trudged along in frustrated silence, willing the hut to get closer. Finally, we made it. It was only about 2pm. We had lunch and then--played cards. All day. It was surprisingly fun. And SO great to just sit around in the warm hut. It also started pouring about 20 minutes after we got to the hut. What luck! It rained pretty much all night too. The hut kept getting more and more crowded as the night progressed. There were three people there before we arrived. The hut only sleeps twelve. When bedtime rolled around, there were over 30 people in the hut!! A few pitched tents and we stuffed nine of us on the top bunk. A few of the boys slept outside.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Day 3: Peanut Butter, Scroggin and Victory

Ramsey and Jacapo. Our fearless leaders.


Saturday, March 22

We woke up to a cool, clear morning. I slept like a baby in the hut. It was magnificent. We didn’t leave the hut until about 10. Every morning, we did something the Anasazi boys (Ramsey and Jacapo) called the “sacred circle”. We all stand in a circle, turn around, and say a prayer/have a moment with nature. Where we’re all done, we turn around and leave. I liked it.
Saturday was probably my favorite day. WE HAD A TRAIL!! Bushwhacking has its perks and adventures, but after a day and a half of blazing my own trails, I was more than ready for a trail. It was gorgeous! It led through this beautiful, green forest. Up and over logs, across rivers, under logs, through mud holes… It was great. Most of the day, I hung in the back of the pack with Lisa, Cameron, Tyler and Katie. It was nice. Usually, I hurry through hikes but I liked just being in the back, taking it all in, pushing each other along. We had fun--our little group. By the end of the day, we were talking about our favorite restaurants and desserts and we even had about 15 minutes of official complaining time. That was funny--and therapeutic.

One of the views that made the whole dang thing worth it.


Part of the trail that I loved oh so much.



I had an apple with peanut butter for breakfast that morning, since I’d downed my oatmeal the day before and we didn’t have lunch with us. So, I had a LOT of scroggin (aka--trail mix). And I mean-- a LOT. We didn’t get back to the van until about 5:30 where luckily, we had planned ahead and had peanut butter, jelly and bread waiting for us in the car.


It’s amazing to me after all the pain and difficulty associated with tramping that I can get home and say I had fun. Day two, was definitely my low light. I was so frustrated--with the lack of trail, with the wind, with the far away hut, with Cameron, with Ramsey and Jacapo for leading us there… Just angry. I finally made myself stop, look around, take some deep breaths and remind myself of what was really important. Every time over the trip when I felt that frustration or that “get-home-atis”, I would force myself to stop, or at least slow down and remind myself of where I was and what I was experiencing. I learned a lot from forcing myself to do that.


I also learned to love Egyptian Rat Screw! I hate that game. Or I did until Friday. We played for hours, until Jacapo told us to stop because the slapping was waking up people on the bottom bunk. And I actually started to like it.
Well, that about sums it up I think. I’m happy I went and I’m happy I’m home. The end. :)





You can thank Cameron for this lovely panoramic. I hope you can see it because--it's amazing!

Orienteering 101: Bushwhacking


Last Wednesday, the day before our tramping trip, our instructors sent us out into the wilderness with a compass, bearings and a map. Ben and I were partners and together, we set off into the wilderness. We went through a gigantic, very thick pine forest; up, over and through bushes, up and over sand dunes... we even sprinted across a golf course and landed ourselves in the middle of a clay pigeon shooting range. That was exciting! Ben and I were looking down at our feet thinking, 'what are those little pieces of clay disc-looking things?' and at the same moment, realization struck, we looked at each other and Ben yelled, "Run!!" Oh man. It was funny. Little did I know...it was just a small glimpse of what I would be doing for the next three days...

PRAWNS!

See the eyes, the legs and the whiskers?? Yuck!



Eating food that looks back at you has never been one of my strong points. Mags announced the other day that we would be having prauns for dinner. Prauns? In my ignorance of seafood, I didn't even know what those were. In case any of you might be in the same boat, they are basically giant shrimp. Seeing as how I don't even like shrimp, I wasn't too thrilled at the idea of eating GIANT shrimp. Nevertheless, I tried. I was even more disgusted as I sat down at the table and watched Mags give me a tutorial of ripping of the head, sucking the juice and taking off the shell. I couldn't help but sing to myself, "Pull off their heads and suck the juice and throw their skins away..." Sick. However, I tried them. And, once you get past the eyes, and the crunchy legs you have to rip off, they weren't half bad. Another fear conquered in New Zealand! Just don't ask me to get back into a kayak...


My trepidation...

...and my triumph!

Stay Tuned....

So, I'm back from backpacking!! I spent last night preparing a lovely blog post for you all. I saved it on my jump drive but alas, I saved it in the incorrect format. So, I can't open it on this computer. I'm sorry, you'll all have to wait a day or two to get the dl on my trip. I just wanted to write this to let you know that I didn't forget about my blog. I just hit a small roadblock. So, stay tuned for some good stuff in the next couple of days! Happy Easter! :)

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Last Post of the Day

I'm really sorry that I post in these spurts. I just like to do it all at once. It's easier for me, but not as enjoyable for the reader. I apologize.

I got special permission from Stefanie to post these pictures, so I'm going to. :) I think you will all enjoy them. I hope so at least, because they crack me up! The important thing to know before viewing these pictures, is that we didn't plan them beforehand. Stefanie just stuck the camera in front of us, and we each just struck a pose. These kind of photo shoots are fun. I definitely reccommend them to anyone who hasn't yet tried. So, as my liast post for today, and for awhile probably, I hope you all enjoy these wonderful photos.
Take 1.
Take 2. My personal favorite.
Take 3; shaky style.

And take 4. The end. :)

Rockin' the Rocks!

Neat picture, huh? Too bad, I completely posed for that one! Stefanie was sitting at the top of the cliff snapping pictures of everyone. I was only allowed to move at her command and here, I think I was told to look really intensely up toward the camera but not AT the camera. I think I made a pretty good model...


Wanaka, NZ


This was the view from our campsite. Absolutely gorgeous. Everyday, on our 3-day rock climbing trip, we would wake up and hit the rocks by about 9am. This trip was my first ever experience with climbing real, outdoor rocks. And-- I LOVED IT!! It's such a great challenge, and so rewarding when you get to the top. Basically, there's not much to tell about the trip, other than we did a lot of rock climbing. The stars were beautiful at night, and we learned a bunch of southern hemisphere constellations which was fun. The second day, it was rainy and windy, which makes for an interesting climbing experience... The third and final day was by far the best. I got to climb Tombstone. I don't think you can tell from the picture, but it was hard, straight up, and really high! It was so fun though. Especially when I got to the top, after thinking I wasn't going to make it.
This is Tombstone. And that is me sitting on the top. SO FUN!
The first day while our instructors were setting up our climbs, a group of us went exploring. We waded through a creed and then tried to jump up onto these rocks by the side of the creek without getting wet. After pulling our shorts up as high as they would go, this still proved impossible. But we didn't give up! Through a lot of teamwork, some mud and a little bit of splashing, we all got up so we could take this fantastic picture. As for getting back into the creek? Yeah, it was a disaster. We all ended up...wet.

And PS- I was wearing those striped thermals under the those shorts. In that very position, I succeeded in taking them off while staying completely modest. I know, it's pretty dang incredible! My talents multiply every day... :)

No more surfing: The end of an era

So surfing ended. Yes, it's sad. But, it is autumn here now. Which means--I do NOT want to be getting in any oceans anymore. And, I did awesomely on our last day, which also happened to be the day we were tested! It was great. Here's just a litte tribut to the great sport of surfing. Of which I am now an expert, obviously...

This is Wayne, the surf master. He went surfing with us every time to show us the ropes. Basically, he's a hippie. This shirt he's wearing here is one of his tamer ones. He's just the greatest though. When we tried to thank him the first day for taking us out, he told us, "don't thank me, thank the universe!" And, that basically defines him. He's an artist and a beach bum, and a really good time.

I took this picture through a cave that we climbed up into at the beach. We saw this whole in the rock and obviously couldn't leave it unexplored so we climbed up and found the coolest little beach shack built on the side of the mountain. It was so cool! But, the best part was the view out the window--to the beautiful beach!

Being the beginner surfers that we are, some waves are a little over our heads still--literally! This picture is an example of this. These girls are contemplating how much they like being alive before they step out into the insane surf. Oh man, that was a funny day. I was in the second group, so I just stood on the beach and watched people try to get out to the waves for about 20 mintues and only get a few feet in the from the beach. These girls were wise to consider the consequences of getting in the water before they dove in.

Unfortunately, this picture doesn't do this beach justice. It was beautiful!! If you know anything about me, then you know how excited I was about the fact that the small island behind us is called Monkey Island. Yeah, for real. :) It was great.

So, farewell surfing. Thanks for a good time. I hope we meet again someday soon.

They don't make clouds like this in the states!


Welcome to one of the wonders of New Zealand--the clouds. It makes sense to think that clouds are one of those things that are the same everywhere. Not so! Notice these clouds:



Have any of you Americans every seen clouds like this?!? Well, if you have, I guess I need to come live near you. Anyway, I just wanted to share one of the wonders of this small island with you all.



Here's another thing about New Zealand. This one is definitely not as great as the cloud feature but it is still interesting. Kiwis LOVE their barbeques. I have been to... a lot since being here. Probably somewhere close to ten. Anyway, at Mormons Helping Hands day on Saturday, we had a nice barbeque for lunch. The first thing to know about Kiwi barbeques is that they never have buns. Never. Just slices of bread. We thought, ok, it must be because they don't have buns here. Not true!! They totally do. So, we think they are just cheap. :) Anyway, this barbeque on Saturday consisted of sausage, bacon and onion sandwiches. Hmm. If you are questioning the sanity of that combination, you are not alone. I decided to pass on the sausage, I'm not the hugest fan, but I went for the bacon (which is canadian bacon, actually) and the onion. Mostly against my will, the branch president also squirted a nice amount of tomato sauce (basically a less sweet form of ketchup) on my onion and bacon. To my surprise, it was not too bad. Not something I'd want to eat every day, but definitely something that could grow on me.

The Stuff of Life

It's the simple things in life, the day to day stuff, that really creates meaning in life. For example, the package I received from home a few weeks ago. It was incredible! It took a little money and a little thought, but was a simple gesture that really made my week. Those arch supports are helping by the way Mom--thanks! Having already dwelt on cookies quite a bit, I won't delve into how much I loved getting soft, American cookies in that package as well. And, I've been rationing the Reese's eggs and still have a few left. :) Stef and I were very excited about the bunny that we each got to hatch. We decided to save one for Easter but we already hatched mine! I caused a lot of controversy when I tried to help it out of its shell prematurely, but I'm happy to say that it has grown into a large, healthy bunny, quickly overtaking the glass it is currently soaking in.





Going to church is a weekly activity that is an experience in itself. I finally decided to get a picture of our traveling-to-church outfits last week because they basically define our sabbath day. If you can't tell, we are wearing our church shirt on top, basketball shorts, church shoes and a backpack containing a skirt to change into (assuming you remember to pack it...), scriptures, manuals, etc. What you can't see is that for some reason, there is an unearthly strong headwind every week. Every sunday, without fail, the wind attempts to knock us over on our way to church.






What would life be like without some quality ward/branch service projects? We all showed up to the church last Satuday morning on complete faith. All we knew, is that supposedly, it was "Mormon Helping Hands Day". So heck, we figured we'd show up and lend that helping hand. We ended up at this house, doing a little bit of painting, a little bit of gardening and a lot a bit of what we see us doing here--standing around. But hey, at least I got to wear that neato little bib thing.


And, give us a break on the facial expressions--it was sunny!



And PS-I WON THIS CARD GAME!!! If you don't know what it is from the picture then don't worry about it. Just know, that I have been playing this game for years and I don't think I have ever won it without cheating. Mostly, I think just Megan might understand this one. :)

I'm Proud to be an American, where at least...we eat cookies!!!

For anyone who has done traveling overseas, it is no real shock to you that the majority of the rest of the world has no concept of a "cookie". They think they do, in their hard, insufficient biscuits, but really, they're missing the point. All 34 of us study abroaders have been suffering from massive cookie withdrawals since being in New Zealand. There are biscuits and Cadbury chocolate bars galore but a simple cookie? Nowhere to be found. To solve this unfortunate problem, a few of us decided to get together one night and make cookies. We actually had a little bit of a cookie bake off. I don't think I've ever eaten so many cookies in such a concentrated amount of time. Yikes. I would not recommend it. But, after a nearly three month dry spell, I felt a small cookie binge was warranted.


Above: the whole group. We biked, against a ridiculously strong wind the entire time, out to Cameron and Tyler's place for our bake off. Their homestays were

so excited. :) The dad actually hovered around the kitchen all night and was usually the first one to sample the cookies. It was fun to see them all so excited about this new treat. For the bake off, Stefanie and I decided on making my personal favorite and specialty--no bake cookies. It was also convenient because we didn't have to fight for the oven. Maggie made chocolate chip cookies, Lisa and Ashley whipped out some delicious snickerdoodles, and Cam and Ty astounded us all with the most amazing peanut butter cookies I have ever had and some pretty great chocolate chip ones.

And....here's what happened after we'd all had a few too many. This was a Saturday night, and all through church the next day I was on a ridiculous sugar high. This was unfortunately accompanied by a massive sugar headache. Not extremely pleasant, but dang those cookies were good. :) So rest assured everybody, we are doing our best, making sacrificing and coming together to make sure we don't forget who we are, where we come from, and the important values that our country embraces. Cookies basically sum all of that up.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Freezing in Paradise

I really do consider New Zealand a form of paradise. I spend just about every other day on the beach, my schooling involves surfing, tramping, kayaking and the occasional paper. I even take tests on the beach. This post is for all of you who might be getting a little too jealous of me. Just because I spend all of my time outside, does not mean that it is always sunny and warm and beautiful. Well, I take it back, it's always beautiful. For example, the other day they drove us to the beach to go surfing and I looked at them like they were crazy (and they are). I was standing on the sand, wind blowing me every which direction, watching the waves beat down on the beach in my thermals, three shirts, fleece and beanie. "You guys want us to get in the water?" I stammered, disbelieving. That is exactly what they wanted us to do--and that's what we did! Don't get me wrong, it was totally worth it! The things we do here...





This particular picture was taken Sunday. Luckily, we got a ride to church in the morning because it was pouring. By the time we got home, the rain had stopped but it was FREEZING!! I spent the afternoon huddled as close to the heater in the living room as I could be. I kept coming back to the room intermittently to add more layers. PS- I was STILL cold even with all of this on. I even sat and ate dinner in this smashing outfit--complete with the hood. I am sporting my newest kiwi purchase--striped thermals! Not only are they the most comfortable things I have ever worn--they're STRIPED! :)

The bottom line is, for all of you reading my blog wishing you were me here in paradise, you can keep on wishing because it's amazing! BUT--don't forget that here on this little island, summer is winding down and fall is starting up! Besides, how hard core would I be if I never got cold doing any of this cool stuff?

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Amendment to my family

The US Constitution has all kinds of amendments. Twenty-six I think. I'm a little embarassed that I can't remember but anyway, I figured, if all those amendments just make the constitution better, than this amendment to my last post will just make it even better. Dave Giles--the amendment to my family. :) Sorry Dave, it's true. I should have added you earlier. But since you complained, you get to live with this picture of yourself on my blog. :) Here's what I should have said about Dave, in someone's wise words, "Dave, you are the coolest brother-in-law a little sis could ever dream for. I only hope that one day my future husband will be as tall, strong, handsome, and intellectually stimulating as you are. I'm so happy that I have the picture book you and Sara gave me for Christmas as it inspires me daily. I can't wait to see you this summer!!" But really, you are great Dave. Thanks for making my sister so happy! And--I did bring that picture book to New Zealand with me. :)