Millford Sound & Southland Weekend

Hey everybody!
Sara and I just got back from Millford Sound tonight. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milford_Sound) It is a Fjord on the west coast about 4.5 hrs from Dunedin. Sara and I rented a car on Friday and took off. We cut our way through the interior and got to Te Anau at about 5 pm. Te Anau (or Te Anus as i like to say) is a small, shit of a town on lake Te Anau. We thought it would be a fun mountain/lake town. We were wrong, but it is the closest place to the Sound (2 hrs) that we could get a room. We booked our ticket at the hostel we stayed at. The hostel was a weird experience. It was the first one I have ever stayed at, and I really don't know what I was expecting, but it was not this. We were in a room with 4 other people, and were expecting to hang out with them, but I think the entire night they said maybe 20 words to us. It could have been the fact that there was a huge language barrier, but who knows. We woke up at 6.30 am and took off up to the Sound. It was pretty dark until we got there, but on the way back we could see just how beautiful of a place the west coast is. Mountains, lakes, and glacial waterfalls everywhere. Words and pictures do no justice to how beautiful it was. When we got to Millford we got out of the car and from out of the woods strolled a Kia. Kia's are endemic mountain parrots of NZ. They are curious birds who have a knack for destroying and stealing things. It was so surreal that one just waltzed on up to us out of the forest.
Sara and I got on the boat and went on possibly the most awe inspiring 2 hour trip of our lives. If anyone ever has the chance to travel to NZ, Millford is a must. We left soon after the trip was over, and since it was light out, we could stop at different points along the way to take pictures and soak it all in (literally, it was raining the entire time, not a bad thing, but to be expected since we were in the rainforest). We were planning on heading to the Catlins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catlins) next, but when it started to get dark, we decided to head on back to Dunedin so we could check out the peninsula all day tomorrow and hit up the Catlins some other weekend. That was by far the longest run on sentence ever.
It was a great weekend, and I cant wait to show all of this stuff to my parents when they come in Sept. Driving was easy and rather quite enjoyable. Not hard at all to pick up (they drive on the left). The only hard thing is that there are no interstates here. Only 2 lane highways that twist and turn their way across the country. The speed limit is 100 km/h (60 mph) and half the time you are going half of that to make it around the corners to keep from flipping the car. But while it takes and obscenely long time to get anywhere here, the scenery is amazing. Nothing like Iowa.
Ive been up for almost 19 hours and 8 of those were driving so I'm off to bed.

First weekend out of Dunedin town

Last weekend 10 of us rented a van for the weekend with one plan. To have no plan. We got on the road at about 3.30 pm and just took off. I guess the night before we had said that we were planing to head to route 6. Route 6 is right through the souther alps that run along the mid-west coast. After driving through some small interior towns (and the honest to god filming site for Lord of the Rings, the part where the three are running to catch the orcs). To save on money we decided to camp the two nights we were on the road. The first night we stopped and made camp on a farm just outside of Cromwell. It was freezing cold sleeping in the van. I only got a few hours of sleep (as in about 45 min) due to being cramped, cold, and people shooting rabbits just over the hill (needless to say i was the only one concerned about po-dunk farmers shooting riffles at 3 am right by 10 20 year olds illegally camping on private property). The next morning we woke up, made some breakfast and headed to the town of Wanaka a few km up the road. I can say that without a doubt in my mind that Wanaka is the most beautiful place in the world. There are two CRYSTAL clear lakes cut deep into the mountains. It was unreal seeing the sunrise and sunset from there. The second night we found a campground on a small peninsula in the middle of lake Wanaka. We set up the tents and then made a fire on the beach. It was by far one of the coolest moments of my life. Words and pictures cannot explain the beauty of this country. The next morning we headed home.

By far this is the best way to see this country. No plans. Just go. I have some great pictures (my camera decided to be a piece and corrupted all of them, so i am currently working on salvaging them) Hopefully I will get them up soon.

uni, papers, and culture shock

Thought I would just do a quick update on the papers I am taking since my first week of Uni is almost over (yea three day weeks!)

Anatomy 242: Neuroscience- This could possibly be one of the hardest classes I have ever taken and it is day 2. It even beats Comparative Chordate Anatomy if this is even possible. It is a very in-depth study of the whole nervous system, specifically the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). Lecture is held in the hospital and it is mainly med students taking it. It is really interesting and something I am considering pursuing later on as a specialty, but damn, shits intense. The one cool part about it is that because im in this class, i have special access to the anatomy museum which houses a couple hundred human specimens, and its heated (a major plus for this country!) I will admit that late at night it does get a little weird when you realize you are the only one in the building and you are sitting there holding a human brain and a fully dissected spine.

Zoology 222: Evolutionary Biology- Typical evolution class. Something I have gone over a million times. Hopefully it won't be bad.

Marine Studies 2...something: Marine Invert. Biology and Ecology- In-depth look at marine invertebrates and their interactions. Interesting class. Nice throw back to the good ol' Marine bio days in DM. Whats really cool is that we get to go out on their major research vessel POLARIS and play around with un-maned submersibles to check out the little critters in their natural habitats.


As for culture shock: This is the only thing they talked about in our 2 hour orientation (mind you school was not really mentioned once) It really is not bad here. Its a lot like home looking at the big picture. Its when you have the small things that you have to step back, scratch your head, and just think "What the HELL is this?" Here are a few cases:

1: School supplies are different here. No spirals to be found, and the binders are all two hole. This about sent Sara and I into a subarachnidal hemorrhage (see Im learning something)

2: Skittles are not the same flavor. And Diet Coke tastes different. When i grabbed a handful of skittles at the movie I about shit a brick. They have black berry and apple instead of grape and lime. This is a HUGE disappointment to me. Get it together NZ.

3: The people are really nice. Everyone helps you if you ask. Our lab leader for Evolution was really helpful when I didn't have a clue of what she was talking about.

4: When you use your credit/debit card here, they actually check your signature.

5: They drive on the left here (and i have almost been hit 10 times) BUT they walk all over the sidewalk making me look like an ass trying to dodge them

6: I'm about 90% sure they could care less if you took a weapon on a plane, but so help me god if you have an apple, the penalty is death. Of course this is after a $400 fine.

Overall I love this place and these little things have just thrown me for a loop the first time i encountered them (especially #1, it took us an hour to buy school supplies)

Almost 2 weeks in already!

Wow, cant believe that we are almost two weeks into life in NZ! Sorry I haven't been keeping up with this, but the past few days has been a whirlwind of new friends and class stuff. I am signed up for all the classes I want and can't wait for them to start. Orientation is over, i guess it was really only a 2 hour meeting about useless information. So in reality, no help from the university on setting up all the necessities. I currently have 2 of 3 flat mates right now. Tommy is from Hungary and Anna is from Hawaii, both are really cool and I cant wait to really get to know them.

I feel like i know the north part of Dunedin like the back of my hand now after 2 weeks of walking everywhere. My favorite part of this town so far would have to be the Botanic Gardens. They are beautiful with so many interesting and new plants! Though it is the dead of winter here (its about 50 degrees during the day... real rough winter, i know...) everything is green and beautiful. There are even flowers blooming! The kiwis laugh at us for loving flowers in the winter but hey anywhere that doesn't drop to -10 with 5 ft. of snow is heaven. The gardens also have an aviary where they have many cool and rare birds. 2 of the Cockatoos talk and Sara and I have entertained ourselves with them for 2 days now.

Now we have to conquer getting text books and stuff for school. Kia Ora!

Flattin it up

Sara and I just moved into our respective flats. Not a 5 star, but it should be good enough! The past few days we have been all over this city and beyond. Went on the Taieri Gorge train tour out to central Otago to see the mountains and hill country. This is such a beautiful country! Unlike the US, once you get past town there is NOTHING around, no roads no power lines, just nothing! We also decided to hike up the worlds steepest street (Baldwin St.) For every 1 m forward you go 3 m up! Needless to say that was a once in a lifetime thing and I see no need to do it ever again. We start orientation sometime this week and will be able to see what classes are like over here. Hope all is well at home!

PS- Just for a little humor:
Sara and I almost missed our flight to SFO in Minneapolis, so we had to sprint to make our 13 hr Air New Zealand flight. Due to the shortness of the lay over, we lost our luggage. When we finally made it to Dunedin the cab we took to our hotel hit a pole, and the cabbie just laughed. Needless to say this has been an experience of a lifetime!