It's been awhile since I've posted an update from the Southern Hemisphere, but it's been a good ride in the meantime. This past weekend was spent at the southernmost point of the South Island in a region known as the Catlins. The task: a conservation project at a Yellow-eyed penguin colony.

I went with a few kids from my program...we stayed with an older couple (who by the way fed us very well). Between digging up foreign and unwelcomed vegetation and setting bait traps to catch Possums (the penguin's predator), it was definitely great to get my hands dirty and to be able to give something back to New Zealand. The highlight of the weekend was bush-whacking through forests...we were honestly on our hands and knees crawling through tiny openings in the bush (which by the way, gore-tex is my saving grace). That, and seeing a vibrant sunrise cast its glow on the sandy beach...a moment that reminded me of just how far south, isolated and perfect NZ really is.