A New Zealand Birthday

Since my last post I have had a paper and 3 tests to complete. It was rough, especially because I had 2 of the tests on the same day (Thursday the 23rd), but I made it.  After a week of studying and tests it was time to celebrate my birthday with some awesome flatmates and friends on Thursday night. There were 15 of us total at dinner. We went to an Indian restaurant that was BYO (meaning you can bring your own wine bottle there for a small cost) and the food was very good and actually spicy! New Zealanders are not big on spice usually.  After a fantastic dinner we went back to my flat for some music and games.  It was a lot of fun having so many of my friends over to celebrate my 21st!   The next day (my actual birthday) I went to lunch with Cat and then went shopping for our tramping weekend.  This was going to be another Girl Weekend out to the Kepler track with Cat, Amy, Alexis and Sarah.  We left Dunedin around 4:30pm and stayed overnight in a backpackers in Te Anau, though we had a little trouble finding it once we arrived in the town.  Then Saturday morning we were off to tramp up the mountain and stay overnight at Luxmore hut, but not before we all bought matching hats for tramp.  The hike was a lot more difficult than the Heaphy - so much steeper.  Once out of the tree line, the wind was strong and cold that it knocked me sideways and off the track a couple of times.  I made it though, and the views were more than worth the pain I put my body through. In the "hut," which was more a vacation home (without a stove or electricity), we sat my the fireplace and made some dinner of couscous and veggies. After dinner it was time for a well deserved message line.  When we exhausted we all went up to the bunkroom and cuddled up in out sleeping backs and had some girl talk.  It was pretty cold so the five of us were all up on the top bunk (usually 4 would be up there).  Trying to sleep even after a day of hard tramping was not easy when the wind was howling and causing the hut to shake.  Then in the morning, we found out the forecast was calling for Snow! And as we were having breakfast that cold Sunday morning it started to fall.  As Amy is from Texas, she rarely sees snow and was ecstatic.  It turned out to be extremely fun hiking in the snow, for a little while, as it turned to rain as we descended the mountain.  Thankfully the rain on this tramp did not cause any 'exciting' river crossings.  The drive home was filled with the singing of Disney and Country songs and then stopping for a little chinese food.  This was such an amazing weekend and birthday.

Thursday Night BDay party

Rainbow in Te Anau before starting the track

Matching hats!

On the Kepler after getting out of the tree line

Snow in the morning

Finally some good Weather

After a weekend out on the town, there was a complex dinner on Monday put on by the uniflats office. You have to love free dinner.  It was nice to talk to people who live so close and that I hardly ever see.  After having a delicious and huge meal some of us went over to a neighbor's flat to play a couple games of Mafia.  Tuesday was my friend Cat's birthday so after class we got together for lunch and a little shopping.  Later that day Cat's flatmates, a couple of other friends and I went to a nice dinner.  Then it was nothing but classes and working until friday, where instead of camping (too cold and a unit rainy) we went to try and see some of the glow worms around Dunedin.  We were not successful, but we had a fun night-time troll though the woods. The car the we rented for the weekend (that I was not driving) was named Trixie, she was a very trusting car.  We got a VERY early start with Trixie on Saturday, heading out of Dunedin at 6:30am to spend a day in the Catlins.  The weather on saturday was amazing, even after it rained everyday that week before.  The first stop along the was was Cathedral Caves, we got there right at low tide so we were able to explore.  The cave was amazing.  After the caves we headed down to Curio Bay and walked along the beach and climbed the rocks.  The wind was pretty strong, so the waves were enormous and crashing all over the rocks - many good pictures were taken.  After climbing for a while on the rocks we went to a little store at the car park and got a thick shake (aka. an American milkshake).  After Curio Bay we decided to drive down to slope point, one of the southern-most points of New Zealand's South Island.  It felt strange being closer to the South Pole than to the Equator.  After Slope Point we headed to Purakanui Falls, even though I've been there before the falls were better this time because of all the recent rain.  After the falls we stopped at nugget point on our way back to Dunedin.  We got to Nugget Point just in time for an amazing sunset.  We got back to Dunedin in time for a late dinner. I didn't have much food so I made rice and peas with some apricot chili sauce.  Then I headed over to a friends flat for a little get together, because Haylie came down for a quick visit from Christchurch.  Some people went into town after a while, but as we were walking there I decided I was too tired and turned home for some good sleep.

Cat's Birthday Dinner

Cathedral Caves

This Was out car Trixie

The Southern most point of New Zealand

Nugget Point

The most amazing sunset.

Sunday was not too eventful, but there was an Kiwi Kai (kiwi cooking/sampling) put on by Arcadia (yay to more free food!).  There were delicious treats such as Anzac and Afghan biscuits (cookies), cheese rolls, asparagus rolls, and tea waiting for us.  The main part of the Kiwi Kai was making Pavlova. We each got our own individual pavlova to decorate. So good and I cannot wait to make pavlova back home in the States because it is super easy to make.

Our individual Pavlovas topped with kiwifruit, raspberries, and grapes

It may be a while until my next post because there are a lot of tests coming up and I won't be doing anything too interesting!

Relaxation

It has been a long couple weeks since the last time I posted. The most of last week was spent researching and writing my essay for my Environmental History class, with little fun in-between.  I spent a sunday Saturday last week in the gardens with my friend Cat before cooking dinner together that night.  Thursday during the next week, the night before my essay was due, I went out salsa dancing with a couple of friends for a little. And I was still able to complete my essay at a decent hour.

Friday night out.

Such a great day for Kayaking

The whole group together. Countries represented are USA, Scotland, Switzerland, and Germany

After I turned in my essay on Friday, this past weekend was strictly for fun. I did no work whatsoever.  Friday night I went out to the town for a girls night with Cat and my new friend Amy. We had a blast together and it was just what we all needed after a tough week of classes.  Saturday I got up pretty early and went to go Kayaking about the Otago peninsula with Cat, Amy, and Colyer.  The weather was perfect.  After kayaking, my flat has a red card challenge, which is also sort of like a dare.  We had to use 50cents and buy whatever we could and trade it with local stores.  It was pretty fun! After the red card we all just hung out and had a few drinks.  Most of my flatmates then went to the rugby game, as I went to get ready for a party at my friend's flat complex for cinco de mayo.  Overall it was a great weekend, but now it is back to class.  Next weekend I will be heading back down to Curio bay to see more waterfalls and a campout with some amazing people.

Here is a fun video from Pitch Perfect: