Friday, March 21, 2008

New Zealand

Right now I am blogging from the base of the Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand! 7 others along with myself are in the middle of an 11 day trip that we planned ourselves. The travel agent helped a bit (booking of flights, a couple of events), but we pretty much did the most of it ourselves by looking through guidebooks and brochures and then booking on the company's website. We have rented two wicked campers (old vans that have been converted into campers that sleep 3, with a stove and sink) and a mid size car. It fits us all comfortably (if you don't mind sleeping in a car a couple nights). So far, I have been on a cruise in the Akoroa harbor (where I saw dolphins and seals), on a gondola over Christchurch and a tram through it (it is a very beautiful city), and have explored a cave with glowworms in Greymouth (my favorite so far). Right now my mates are going up the glacier, but I had to stay back because I hurt my back awhile ago- but no worries, I was just doing it as a precation. I still got to see the glacier, just not hike on it. I wanted to be sure that I could do the rest of the stuff on the trip. Tomorrow we head down to Queenstown for a couple days to sky dive, bungy jump, and whitewater raft. Then we go down to Milford Sound for an overnight cruise, where we can take kayaks out into the sound. Then back to Queenstown for a canyon swing bungy, followed by a drive to Dunedin, a scottish town, for a couple tours and the finish of our trip. It is amazing here, the people are absolutely great, and the scenery is more amazing than anything you could imagine.
For incoming students, when planning trips, do as much as you can before you come. People will jump in with you if your trip is cool, plus you can get your plane tickets when you get here and it will be much cheaper (they went up for us almost $30-60 a day). We planned our own trip, but a lot of people took one through the travel agent- it all depends on how much adventure you are looking for. It has been a little crazy, but we have handled it all fine and it makes it that much more fun to be doing it for yourself. Do a lot of preplanning, and print out city maps. I really like the wicked campers, but there are other brands out there. The wickeds are just good because you can ding them up with no cost.
The trip is costly, in total a little over $2000- but so worth it!
To give people an idea, the plane ticket was about $500-600, the campers at $70 a day. The car was about $35 a day, but it was the cheapest I could find with a lot of searching. Add in insurance, and all the events you want to do, and it adds up- but the experience is the best I have ever had.
Gotta go~
Shea

Monday, March 10, 2008

Outdoor Education

So, for the past three days, I have been hiking and doing ropes courses in Meebun-bia. It was absolutely exhausting, but also absolutely fun. I won't give too much away for those going in the next semesters, but here is what I can tell you. I am not in shape, and I was able to do it. Was it probably a little unsafe? Yes. I pushed myself harder than I ever have, almost fainting a couple times from the hard uphill hikes. It was also hard on everyone else; by the third day everyone was exhausted. I was also glad to have my own hiking backpack. The university ones are not in good condition, and I was able to pack my stuff before I left to know how much to bring. Bring some light gloves, if you can- a few people got blisters, and everyones hand hurts from all the ropes course stuff. It is a lot of fun, though, and you really get close to the 20-28 people in your tut (which stands for tutorial). You get to do a lot of cool ropes course things, some good navigations excersizes (where I got to see a lot of cool wildlife), and heaps and heaps of hiking. Try not to be picky with your meals, and you should be fine! Unfortunately, the one thing I forgot on this trip is my camera.... a real bummer.
Other than that, Australia is pretty awesome. I have already made some great friends here, and the Aussies are really nice about giving rides and such, so with a little planning you are able to get what you need. I know I have been able to.