Stewart Island

After an hour and a half ferry ride across really rough waters we arrived in Stewart Island Sunday evening. Stewart Island is a beautiful island which is mainly a National Park with one small but quaint town on it and is located south of the South Island of New Zealand. We spent our first night on Stewart Island in a hostel in Oban and after having fish and chips for dinner we called it an early night. Monday morning we went to the Department of Conservation (DOC) office to book huts and register with them before we set off on the 3 day tramp  - the Rakiura Track. The first day of the hike was gorgeous and we had beautiful weather as we walked 15 km up along the coast. On the second day we made our way across the island - it was a beautiful yet muddy hike. Thankfully the rain held out until we reached the hut but it poured that night making for a incredibly muddy hike the next day. We set out early on Wednesday morning hoping to see Kiwis on our pre dawn hike, however a few hours into our walk I fell and torn something in my knees which were already hurting from the day before. Justin, Liza and Harald took good care of me and after a slow hike we made it back to town by mid afternoon. We relaxed on the beach and explored town for a few hours that afternoon before catching the ferry back over to Bluff that evening.

day one - and were off 

we made it to the first hut

watching the sun set

day two 

day three

mud, mud & more mud with walking sticks for crutches 

the warning they had posted at the DOC office when we got back for 

the last part of the track we did 

Harald and I playing chess 

downtown Oban the only town on Stewart Island

looking out from town into the Bay

road trip down to southland

My friend Liza (from Colorado) and I decided to travel together for the first week of break. So on Saturday morning the two of us headed out. We caught a ride with Phillippa, a friend from New Zealand, down to Dunedin where we meet up with my friends Harald and Justin. From there the four of us set off for Stewart Island. We stopped for the first night in Pouanwea which is close to Owaka and rented a cabin right on the coast. The next morning we drove along the coast and through the Catlins National Park into Southland. We stopped a few times along the way before reaching Invercargill to buy our ferry tickets and then heading down to Bluff to catch the ferry over to Stewart Island. 

Phillippa, Liza and I at a old fashioned milk bar in Oamaru

the road trip begins - Harald, Justin, Liza and I 

 east coast

Nugget Point

Nugget Point - Justin, Me, Harald, Liza 

Matai Falls

Mclean falls

on the road once again..

The last two weeks have been insanely busy! I am heading of in a few minutes to go hiking and traveling in the south part of the south island and down to stewart island for the next two weeks for my mid semester break! In two to three weeks time there will be a better update and lots of pictures!! 

week five & travel plans?

Week 5 was extremely busy - due to the earthquake in February the semester here at Lincoln has been compressed from 12 weeks down to just under 10 weeks - making for a busy semester with lots of assignments, quizs and midterms all happening in a short amount of time. It wasn’t till late friday afternoon when I had handed everything in that I finally sat down to figure out how I would be spending my two week break... 

week four & a weekend in Kaipoi

After a week of classes I was sitting in the library friday afternoon attempting to finish the four assignments I had due the next week, the final week before mid semester break. As I was working away I received a text from Matt, a staff member of the student life group here in New Zealand (student life is the New Zealand version of Campus for Christ (C4C) which I am involved with back at the University of Guelph). Anyway he asked me if I wanted to go on a retreat in Kaipoi that weekend with the student life group at Canterbury University (in Christchurch - Lincoln doesn’t have a student life group). I agreed to go and my hall mate Jared decided to join me. So the next morning we bussed into Christchurch and caught a ride up to Kaipoi where we spent the rest of the weekend. It was an awesome weekend and it was sweet getting to know the student life crew!

the ‘wee’ little town of Lincoln

Lincoln is about a 10 to 15 minute walk from the University and, like I mentioned in a post when I first got here, there is not a whole lot in this ‘wee’ little town. While I was in town the other day I brought my camera along and took a couple pictures.. Other than another little plaza with a few more cafes, two hair salons and the hardware store oh and then the supermarket (grocery store) further down the road I think I have pretty well captured what is here in Lincoln..

one of many lovely bakeries in town

the pharmacy and bank

one of the little plaza’s in town

I got distracted by the hydrangea bushes ..

this is the end of the main street of Lincoln where the road forks.. 

week three, and a update on me

Over the past week and a half I have been busy with classes, assignments, traveling a bit and just enjoying getting to know and meeting people here. I have gotten the chance to meet alot more people over the pass few weeks, both international students from all over the world and kiwis. I have also gotten involved with the Christian fellowship group here on campus and have met a bunch of sweet people that way as well.

I have settled in a bit to the routine I will be following for the next few months while I am here in New Zealand. Other than the two week mid- semester break coming up in a couple weeks and a few weekend trips I will mostly be staying in and around Lincoln.  Sadly the city center of Christchurch will likely continue to be closed for the rest of the time I am here so I won’t be able to see much in Christchurch beside what I have seen already. However last weekend Melissa, Michaela and I headed into Riccarton (a suburb outside of Christchurch) to go shopping, which was my first time to a mall here in New Zealand. We had alot of fun checking out all the different shops. Other than our trip into Riccarton and a trip to Hornby (last sunday evening for church) I didn’t go to far from Lincoln this week until Friday night when Karen and John came to pick Melissa and I up. We went for tea (dinner) over in Leeston at John’s sister’s place before going to Karen and John’s home is Ashburton where we spent the night. I have had a lovely time visiting with them again and Melissa is enjoying seeing more of the south island (she has never been this far south before!). 

So thats where we are now, in Ashburton, and just settling in to start some homework. I have a ‘heaps’ of assignments due in the coming weeks so I am just starting on those. Although it is definitely more work than I was hoping to do.. classes have been really interesting so far.