Finally, some Kayaking

This past weekend I went with the University's Kayaking Club to paddle the Rangitata River near Christchurch. I had no idea how many people were going until I arrived at the boathouse Friday afternoon. We had around 25 people of all abilities in the group (see the boat trailer picture, and add about 8 boats). It was scary how similar the group/travel process is compared to the Crew Team at the UofM. Not only did the prominant members in the group act the same, but some even looked similar to their respective counterparts in crew. To those of you who would know...a girl named Jess looks/acts exactly like Maggie (coxswain). A guy named Clem looks/acts exactly like Nate Handle. Anyway, the drive took about 4hrs. Myself, Marene, and Virgine' (two new French girls) rode separate from the vans with a guy named DJ. It wasn't as though we rode separate for being internationals...I chose to ride with him, because it was better than being in a cramped van. The French girls knew me, so they asked to come along. The drive was awsome. I hadn't been north of Dunedin (at least on the S. island) before. It was nothing but long streches of uninhabitted beach bordered by giant, green, rolling hills. For awhile, we drove along an enormous bay that was receeding with the tide. By the time we reached the north end, there was almost no water to been seen. It was really wild.

*I made the mistake of leaving my camera in my bag, so I don't have any pictures of the drive yet. I will be travelling that route again in 2 weeks, so I WILL get some.*

The majority of the drive was in the dark, and it got REALLY foggy. For Mom, Dad, Wes, and Grandma, it reminded me of the drive from the airport to our house the first night in Costa Rica. We arrived at the campground around 10:30pm. The main camp was taken up by a military search and rescue training camp. We were put by ourselves about 1/2mi away. That night, we basically just set up our tents and went to bed. Other than a small campfire and a few people playing the guitar and bongo drum, there wasn't much to speak of.
I woke up at about 6:30am with the sun shining right in my tent. By the time other people were crawling out, I had already cooked breakfast and cleaned my dishes (why I can't do this in Quetico, I'm not sure Dad). The put-in for the section we were doing was just south of a class 4 run. Our run never got above class 2+. Despite the fact that it was REALLY easy, it was still a lot of fun. Besides enjoying the scenery (large, less green, hills...and lots of bush), my new boat kept me entertained even on the frequent sections of flat water. I LOVE my All-Star (the boat name grandma). We even ran across two or decent play features on the 4hr paddle. When we go to the takeout, and a few of the group members decided to run the upper gorge. Had they been willing to take a couple hours to rest up/eat up, I'd have been gung-ho. Unfortunately, their plan was to head straight there (good plan, being that they almost had to paddle the last rapid in the dark). I went back to the camp and ate up. After the gorge group returned (8ish), the festivities began. It was basically just a big campfire, a bunch of music, and beer...there was some glow frisbee as well. The kiwis sucked at frisbee...I think it must just be an American thing. The next morning, we paddled the lower section again. The water had gone down a bit, but it was still a fun time. The play features had changed some, so that kept the more advanced boaters content.

Other than packing up and driving home, that was basically my weekend. I got to meet a bunch cool people, see a new part of the country, and finally get some paddling in. I'm really looking foward to our fall break the week after next. The group heads to Murchinson (basically kayaker's heaven...15 rivers within 45min) for a week. It's also in one of the most scenic parts of NZ. I can't think of a better way to spend a break.

In other news, I'm officially dating someone now (as of Monday afternoon)...my partner in dance class, Angie. We've been hanging out quite a bit when she's in town (she competes nationally in lifeguarding competitions, and has been training/competing out of town on the weekends). Anyway, we've decided to give it a shot. I'm pretty happy about the whole situation, she's a really cool girl (with an awsome accent no less). She has off from competitions during fall break, and I think I've almost convinced her to give kayaking a shot (fingers crossed). Mom, I'm pretty sure you'd approve...but I'm sure I'll hear about it anyway. And yes, of course, I'll do my best to get a picture.

I hope everyone is doing well. I certainly am. The next week or so is going to be a bit hectic. I've got a major paper due next Thursday, and a group presentation to start on. Needless to say, I won't be going anywhere this weekend. Yes, I am still managing to focus on schoolwork...somehow. Mom/Dad, I plan to call Sat. around 6/7pm (your time). Cheers,
-Ben
ps. Pictures are loading WAYYY slow right now. I will try them again tomorrow.

Another Week

Well, there's not much to report for this past week. It's feeling a lot more like normal school. My weekly schedule consists of class, gym, and homework. It seems a lot like being home...with a much better backdrop. This past weekend was St. Patty's Day, and Kiwis celebrate just about as much as they do in the U.S. A few of us got together and a bought a keg of St. Patty's Day Green Beer from a brewery just down the street. We set it up on a picnic table outside and played cards for the majority of the day. You'd be amazed at the number of people who want to meet you when you've got a keg...then again, it's a college town. Sunday I borrowed my roommate's car and drove 4hrs to Te Anuau to pick up my kayak (same town we stopped in on the way to Fjiordlands). I had to wait a couple hours for the woman who was holding it for me, but spent the time talking to a Swedish girl/woman (mid 20's) who worked at a small tourist information center. She moved from Sweden about 6months ago, because she fell in love with the area. She didn't even have a job lined up. It seems to be a fairly common story here though. I'm not sure whether to think of it as having big balls or a lack of brains. Either way, I've yet to meet anyone like her that is unhappy with their decision.
So, anyway, after a few hours of waiting I picked up my kayak.

That basically sums up my last ten days or so. Right now, I'm just waiting for Friday when I leave for Christchurch to go kayaking with the Canoe/Kayak group here at the university. I should have some nice pictures to accompany my next blog. Till then.

Fiordlands...

(I'd like to appologize for the lack of pictures in this...technical difficulties. I am posting two that a friend took.)


We left last Thursday afternoon in a haze of confusion. Myself and 13 other international students decided to rent two vans and travel to Fjiorland National Park and the Milford Sound area on the west coast. My friend Lauren organized the whole thing, but she was really the only one who knew what exactly was going on. I thought we were doing a 3 day hike (with 14 people, that'd be idiotic). Even the day of, I had no idea when/where to meet, until I bumped into another friend that was going as well. We were supposed to meet at 4:30 at the museum on campus (why...I'm not sure...6 or 7 of us live in the same complex). I got out of class at noon, and still needed to buy a textbook, buy food for the trip, pack my bag, and stop by the library. At 1pm, I was informed that I'd be sole driver of the 2nd van. Nice to know.

We packed everyone in and left around 5pm. It was supposed to take 5.5hrs during the day...we'd have to make the last quarter (literally, the most dangerous roads in NZ) at night. We lost the other van about 1.5hrs outside of our final destination...they had forgotten that we had to drop off two of our van members for a separate hike. Being that there was only 1 road to where we were going, we just kept going. Fast foward 2hrs...it was dark, we'd just driven 3/4mi through a mountain via unlit, creepy-ass tunnel, hadn't seen a vehicle in over an hour, and had no idea where we were (except that on either side of the road was a long drop. We pulled over to think things through. A few moments later, we saw lights coming from the tunnel a few hundred feet above. It was the other van. After a few profanities were exchanged, we followed them to where we had planned to camp. Unfortunately, no reservations had been made. It was full...the office was closed, so we couldn't get suggestions. We were also low on gas...just under 1/4 tank. We decided to camp on one of the pull-offs just on the other side of the tunnel. Half slept in the vans, while the others slept on the rocks. In the morning we were awoken by a flock of pissed off Kea's (mountain parrots). They were divebombing us, and pecking at our vehicles. I felt like I was in a Hitchcock film. We left as soon as possible, but it wasn't easy. We had camped in in a horseshoe shaped valley, about 200 feet below the top of a mountain. On the peaks were small glaciers, and around us were tall, thin water falls. It was breathtaking (sorry, but these pictures would not upload from my camera).

That day we found a small campground, and went on three separate hikes. The first was to the top of small mountain (just above the lowest cloud level). The second was to a lake 3/4 the way up a mountain we could see in the distance from our first hike (the glacial lake I standing in, and later swam in, in the pictures I sent last week). The third was not nearly as fun, being that it only took 3omin to walk. All in all we hiked for about 10hrs that day. The next day we did another 5hr hike to a scenic river just east of Milford Sound. Except for the biting sand flies, the river and its scenery were perfect.

We camped above a large near Gore that night, and left the next day. It's hard not to elaborate on the individual hikes and subplots in this mini-adventure...but it would take a very long time. I'm long winded as it is. The gist of the story is that despite driving a van full of people through dangerously distracting roads/scenery...on the wrong side of the car/road (at night sometimes)....and swimming in/cliff diving into freezing glacial lakes....nobody got injured, and we all had an awsome time. The scenery was spectacular, and I cannot wait to return for more.