Mid semester break and other travels

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Wow. The semester is over half way over. What have I been doing? Time flies too quickly. So mid semester break was a tun of fun. I knew I wanted to get out of the city. I ended up going tramping (NZ=camping). Yeah it was just like JOE (camping trip Lovett made me take) except cold! We drove from Dunedin through Arthur's Pass in the Southern Alps to Lake Brunier where we camped the night. Okay, I might just be plain paranoid but I was totally waiting for something to come out of the woods or lake and eat me alive. We were going to climb the Lake Brunier trail but decided against it. One guy borrowed some maps from the geology department so we went searching some river beds for greenstone. Which is harder to find then it sounds. Unpolished greenstone isn't really green and all the rocks tended to blend together colour wise. We might have found some low grade stuff. One guy wanted to take it and polish it himself but greenstone (especially from NZ) is one of the hardest minerals on earth. Carvers use a diamond tipped drill to cut and polish it. We found another trail that looked promising up a mountain on the west coast (sorry. i can't remember the name at the moment) I thought I was walking through a rain forest (minus the fact it was cold) Everything was so green. I felt like it's what Forks looks like (for any twilight fans reading). We spent bout 4 hours hiking up this mountain and at the top we found a historical miners hut. Well it was suppose to be for tourist purposes and that;s it. But it was cold and the tents were thin so we spent the night inside. There was a little fire place which was really nice as well. That night I saw so many stars. I really wanted to sleep outside under them but the lose of feeling in my nose and toes changed my mind. The next day we hiked back down the mountain.

once we got back to civilization, I received a text about a possible job opprotunity. For those of you who didn't know, I was invited to play with the City of Dunedin Pipe band at the world championships in Scotland in August. Of course I said yes. I was planning on staying an extra month in Dunedin once the semester was over to practice with them and was therefore looking for a job and a place to stay. A piper in the band's parents owned a bed and breakfast. His mother was the one who texted me and wanted to meet up within the next two days. Therefore I cut my tramping adventures short and caught the night bus back to the east coast. However it was not completely necessary. The CoDPB won Nationals in February and finally was upgraded from Grade 2 to Grade 1 (go them!) but they were planning on going to Scotland as a Grade 2 band. However because of this upgrade the RSPBA would not recognize them as a grade 2 band but a grade 1. The band decided instead of going and getting whipped that they would postpone the trip to 2010. Therefore there is no reason for me to stay an extra month and stay with the band. (I was only slightly upset. Nothing 2L of orange chocolate chip ice cream and a minor dose of retail therapy couldn't cure)

I then spent the rest of midsemester break working on assignments and watching movies in my pjs. 2nd half of the semester kicked off with a mess of assignments due and work to be done. It is now less than three weeks until my Maori 108: waiata class has it's concert and we still have another song to learn. I auditioned for a play (why? I still haven't figured out why) which is opening next week so I have heaps of lines to learn for that. Plus I have to sing (again. Why did i sign up for this?) The last rugby game of the semester is this weekend. and a friend has offered me a space in the car to visit Invercargill (southern most city in the world)

one more thing i forgot. Last weekend I spent on my Country weekend. By coming to NZ with IFSA-Butler I had the choice between an Adventure weekend sailing in Fiordland or a Country weekend on a farm. Well me and boats do not mix, so I chose the farm. I stayed with a lovely couple on their sheep/cattle/deer farm. (yes deer are a farm animal. It's really weird to first see. the fences are so tall) We moved 2 mobs of sheep and a herd of bulls, got a tour of the land (i think it was bigger then all of PC), my host mother is one of the best cooks ever and I got a tun of great recipes. Plus they have 2 sons who live on houses in other parts of the farm. And the eldest has three daughters. I love little kids. Bridget was just turning 7, Holly was 6/5 and Pippa was 4/3. they were so precious. All I did was walk in and Bridget grabs my hand asks me to play with them and says we'll be best friends. I then let free my inner child and played hide and go seek and was a silly goose. I had a blast. They invited me back for another weekend if I wanted and I hopefully will before I leave.

That's it for now. Staying busy. the month of May always is. miss you all and love you more!

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