Where in the World is Saura

Mt Cavendish Overlook

We went up the gondola, located south east of Christchurch, with Doreen today and had lunch at the top. Unfortunately we didn’t see any snow, but it was a fairly clear day and I was told the view was pretty good for winter. At the top you see the city from one side, the ocean next to the right, then the hardor farther around, and then you look over the Bridle Path before returning back to where you started. The Bridle Path is a hiking trail that was once used by settlers to get from the harbor over the Port Hills to Christchurch (or at least to the plain that would become Christchurch, don’t know the timeline too well). The mountains toward the center of the country are still covered with beautiful white snow and Al and I drove out of town to have a good look yesterday. I don’t bring my camera as it was a spur of the moment trip, but I’ll try to get some photos before it all melts.

Tonight our friend from Ireland is coming through Christchurch for the last time before she heads back home, so we’ll probably be out on the town looking for some pubs to drink Guinness in in honor of Ciara’s farewell. I’m sad to see her go, but I’m also very happy that I now know someone who lives in Dublin.

Al and I start classes on the 10th of July and our enrollment is coming along fine as far as I can tell. I’m really not sure how everything works around here, so I’m just assuming my classes, all the official acceptances, and the student loans will all just work themselves out in the next 10 days or so. Hopefully I will be able to plead ignorance if anything goes wrong, but I don’t expect that to happen.

In the meantime, we’ve been watching tennis and soccer, and soon we’ll add cycling to the mix. Can’t wait to see the next big star of le tour and it seems that the bandwagon has picked up Basso, but I’ll faithfull cheer on Discovery (and most likely Salvordelli?) as well. Weatherwise, its still cold but hopefully an early spring is around the corner. Early winter early spring? I can’t wait, I’ve been waiting over a year for that season. Until then, I’ll have to rely on Saura to keep me warm!

We awoke earlier this week to some cold slushy snow. We were pretty lucky since other areas of Canterbury had about a meter of snow dumped on them and some still have no power.

Currently, Al and I are sorting out the paperwork for student loans as well as organizing our class schedules for July. We’re experiencing the calm before the storm and we’re both doing our best to prepare our bodies and minds for our first classes in two years. Written, that doesn’t seem like a long time, but it feels like ages. I’ve lost touch with ‘Christen the student’. I really hope the reunion goes smoothly.

For those who haven’t heard, Alan is getting his Masters of Science in Computer Security and I am getting my Masters of Health Sciences and will focus on Pain Management. We’ve already begun to read up in these areas to get in the right mindset and to get prepared to dive right into our classes. My Masters incorporates some general health care courses, like Health Information Mangagement, which I consider the “increase your employability” courses. These degrees will take us two years, and from there I will either go on to medical school or get my PhD. At this moment I have absolutely no idea which direction I will go, and I’m going to give it a year before I start to seriously decide.

Well, that’s the news from here, we’ll give an update once we start our classes. Its a few days early, but Happy Father’s Day to Dad, Papa, Devlin, and all the other fathers out there. Love you all!

Here it is. Almost three months after we walked the Abel Tasman I’ve finally put this together. The walk was absolutely gorgeous, and its touted as the easiest of New Zealands Great Walks (although you couldn’t tell that to my feet after four days of carrying a heavy uncomfortable pack). The track takes you over the hilly coastline down to sandy beaches and bays, then up and down over and over again.

Our trip began with a water taxi, although there are several different ways to go about the tramp. The water taxi ride alone is a nice outing, taking in the crystal clear aqua blue waters and the golden beaches. The drivers are really cool and you get alittle info about the area. They took us by Tongo Island to see the seals sunning on the rocks. We even saw a few pups. Its a great perspective of the area that you don’t see while your hiking along. We were dropped off near the top at Totaranui and spent the first day hiking up to Mutton Cove then back to Totaranui to camp. We came a bit short of covering the entire trail north of our camp, but I really had enough after a few hours the first day. The terrain was hillier and my pack was heavier than I was prepared for. So we turned around and headed back for the day and hit the hay well before the sun.

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Well, we’re settling in to life here in Christchurch now that we have officially finished travelling…for now of course. We even made a few purchases to bring us up to date, my favorites being the microwave and Sky. Sorry Mom, but we still wash the dishes by hand and hang the laundry out to dry. Don’t knock it though, because its actually very pleasant to go outside with the laundry on a beautiful warm summer day. It becomes more of a chore in the winter, but you won’t have to worry about that.

The other aspect of settling in is finding a job, so I’ve gone to all of the ophthalmologists in Christchurch to hand in my resume. I even spoke with the doctor at the first office I visited. He was impressed with my resume (thanks SEA) and will need an assistant when he moves his office to a larger facility across the street, but that won’t be for a few months. So if I haven’t found anything better in a few months…. I’m also looking at jobs at the hospital or at general practitioners’. I recently discovered that I can’t apply to medical school as a resident until I’ve been here two years, so I’m looking into taking a few classes part time here in Christchurch. Al has already applied to school at the University of Canterbury to the Masters Program in Computer Security. He’s starting part time in July, and hopefully I can take a class or two then as well.

That’s our lives to date. We’d like to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful mothers out there, we love you all.

We stopped for a short hike to some falls while on our way to Wellington to catch the ferry back to the South Island.  We left in the morning from Gisborne, which turned out to be a fairly uneventful stop.  Here’s the best glimpse we have from Gisborne. 

You often drive through Scenic Reserves in New Zealand and a few actually offer hiking trails.  Its not too uncommon to go through a reserve without a single place to stop and explore the place.  I guess these areas are more for preservation than public access.

From the parking area of the reserve it only took about 20 minutes to get out to the falls.  It was more like a pleasant stroll in the woods than a hike, and it was the first forest in New Zealand that reminded me of the forest in western North Carolina.  The waterfall though, was a bit unlike those I’ve seen back home.  They tend to be cascading falls, were this one was long and streaming, falling from a pretty great height.  It was more impressive than I imagined from such an easy walk.  Most of the time you expect to put forth a pretty good effort to see such things.  We came across a huge wall that culminated in a 80ft waterfall streaming from the end.  The rounded rock wall carved from the falling water bore a large pool, great for swimming if it were warmer.

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As much as the South Island is characterized by ancient glaical activity, much of the North Island can be characterized by its geothermal history. We drove through the heart, along the geothermal highway to Taupo and Rotorua. We saw some foul smelling mud pools, and craters where the steam rose straight to the sky. Outside of Rotorua we found these mud pools:

The town of Rotorua is pretty unique in that it has mud pools and some huge steam holes right in town. In a park at the edge of town there is one area that is completely engulfed in huge clouds of steam coming from the ground. Its quite cool, but the smell may put you off eggs for a while.

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Sorry for the delay! Its been awhile since our last post and alot has happened since. We did the Abel Tasman track after leaving Nelson, and as soon as I get those pictures developed I’ll put them up. Once we were off the track and on our way, we discovered that someone in Shanghai stole most of our money, so we abruptly cut that trip short. We have since gotten all of it back, but it was a stressful couple of days for sure. 

  The first week in April, Al had the New Zealand Poker Championships. He played in three events, all were No Limit Holdem. He had some very stiff competition and despite playing very well, did not place in the money. He’ll get em next time. Hopefully they’ll have a Limit Holdem event next year since the participation and interest has skyrocketted, and if they do they better watch out! It was loads of fun, for both of us. I had a great time watching and playing the 2 cent slots, and unlike Vegas, I did win some of my money back.

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We began the top half of our figure-8 around the South Island without Saura.  It took a few days to adjust, but it was for the best.  We have much more freedom now and it won’t be too long before she joins the family again.

 We left Christchurch for Kaikoura, a town situated around a bay on the east coast, guarded closely by mountains.  The clouds were low when we arrived, and we drove down the hillside to the bay into a cool eerie atmosphere of an abandoned coastal ghost town.  It wasn’t deserted of course, but the tourist season did seem over for Kaikoura.  It was too chilly for a vacation at the beach, but we did endulge in the two things Kaikoura is probably best known for, its seal colony and fresh crayfish.

We drove to the seal colony first thing.  There were a few older fellows laying out on the rocky coast; the younger, more active seals must have been out at sea.  Its funny how seals are almost exactly like dogs, they bark, they give birth to pups, they scratch behind their ears with their back flippers.  Its not recommended, but we did get in close proximity to a few of the seals.  These were into their golden years, and didn’t show any signs of swiftness.  Not enough to charge after the onlookers.  To be warned though, they say the young males can travel very fast over short distances and are quite aggressive during breeding season.

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We wish we could be closer to celebrate, we love you and hope you have a wonderful day.

love,

Once the sun finally appeared after our night of pounding hail, driving rains, and high winds, we left Bluff, stopped briefly to type out the last post, then rode on to Te Anau.

Te Anau and Milford, part of Fiordland, were our next stops.  This area is gorgeous, and a definite must see for anyone who has never been.  Like much of the central and western region of the South Island, the glacial history just jumps out at you.  While we’re winding through the mountain passes carved out by ancient glaciers, waterfalls tumble down all around in thin streams.  We were told that on a rainy day there are thousands of waterfalls that almost completely dissapear within two hours of the rains ceasing.  We definitely had to see the Milford Sound (which is in fact a fiord) so took a boat tour out to the Tasman Sea.  The range of mountains on either side of the fiord follow 300 meters down to a U shaped floor.  There are a few permanent waterfalls that feed into the fiord, and on one occasion the captain brought the bow within a few meters of the falls.  They say passengers are encouraged to go and fill a cup from the falls, but this is easier said than done.  At the end of the fiord we turned around in the Tasman and headed back, stopping once to watch some NZ fur seals, and another time to drop someone off at the underwater observatory. 

Te Anau is a lakeside tourist town that offered a few excursions like a trip to glow worm caves and several boat tours.  Hikers and kyakers would also find alot to do here.  The highlight for me had to be the hot shower and laundry at the Holiday Park.  This is me with my face planted in some fresh laundry straight from the dryer…heaven.

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