On Monday, I got up for a 6am bus to the university of Auckland's marine lab which is about 2 hours north of the city on the east coast, near a town called Leigh, but more importantly, near Goat Island Marine Reserve.
Basically the plan was to do a long-lining gear fishing survey and some fish scale aging-analysis. We did the aging with the fish scales (you count growth rings on them like tree rings..pretty cool), and had a gorgeous weather day for fishing, but out of 200 lines, we only caught 7 fish total, with only 4 of them being the target species, NZ snapper. Yeah, epic data fail. So we were given previous years' data for your writeups. It wasn't all bad though; for me, any day spent on a boat is a good one...yep, definitely the best major ever, I know.
On the day we did the fish scales, we had alot of extra time, so I had a chance to explore the area around the lab. Didn't get to snorkel around Goat Island, as the waves were just a bit too much for me to trust myself snorkelling alone out there. The beach was really nice, with a shag/cormorant colony and cool rock outcroppings in the intertidal zone. The coastline in that area in general was really nice, kinda rocky with big cliffs and very remote.
(there are actually pictures on my shutterfly/facebook from this trip...different memory card)
I also really enjoyed that marine sciences seems to attract the same sort of people and faculty everywhere, generally laid back nerds like myself who like to be outside, etc. And marine lab campuses tend to have the same vibe everywhere as well, with good food and schedules planned around the weather and such.
April 8th-10th: South Island trip begins!
(Note: this is where I lack pictures entirely b/c I was by myself...lame)
I got home from fisheries late at night and tossed everything in my new backpack and got up the next morning at 6am for my flight to Christchurch, the biggest city on the South Island of New Zealand. On the flight down, I was entertained by the old guy sitting next to me, who I thought was creepy at first but just really wanted to talk about everything and anything (kinda like my dad); we talked American and Kiwi politics, his trip to Bangladesh, university systems, etc..definitely kept me awake so that I could get my breakfast. Thats right, on an hour and 20o minutes flight, I got a breakfast quiche and coffee...you don't get that too much in the states now, huh?
Got to Christchurch downtown and dropped my stuff at my hostel, which was a bit off the beaten path. I had planned to go to the International Antarctic Center, but after seeing the Southern Alps poking through the clouds on the plane ride, I instead decided that I couldn't wait for scenery and took a bus down to the gondola just outside of town.
It went up a little mountain that overlooked the Banks Peninsula on one side and out over Christchurch and the Canterbury plains over to the Southern Alps. It was intermittently raining/snowing, so I didn't want to do thee little ridge hike up there, but I did get to watch the sheets of rain and patches of sun travel over this incredible landscape, all while sipping on a cup of peppermint tea...it was very nice indeed. Little did I know that I was watching the first snows of the year (which usually occur in June actually) falling on the Alps.
I spent the rest of the afternoon perusing the easter sales at Christchurch's outdoors stores (I realized I needed some more layers for an upcoming trek), shopping for a book, and exploring the famous Cathedral Square area of Christchurch. I also treated myself to a nice proscuitto/roast peach salad at this too-hip-for-its-own-good pizzeria and bar; snooty people, but good food and prices.
Back at the hostel, I ended up talking to a swedish girl (who sounded irish b/c she lived there for a year) who was spending 2 months in New Zealand, was up to week 3 and, because she had completed the South Island, didn't know where to go next. I wish I had the problem of too much time here, but I am a student after all...
Passed out at 9pm, because thats how I roll after getting up absurdly early 3 days in a row.
Caught my 8:30am bus to Queenstown the next day. It was abosolutely gorgeous, travelling through the Southern Alps on a clear day after the first snows. The bus drivers seemed as surprised about the snow as myself. It was an 8hr trip, but we stopped every 2 hours or so, including a lunch stop at Lake Tekapo, where I had basically a grilled ham and cheese sandwich while I looked out over towards Mt Cook, NZ's highest peak. I wish I had pictures from this day spent in transit, because words cannot describe the sets of landscapes I saw on this stretch of roads.
Got to Queenstown kinda late-ish (4:30ish), but I decided that I needed to take in some scenery again and took the gondola up a mountain called, no joke, Bob's Peak. The Southern Alps are filled with such names, my favorites being Mt Cheeseman, Mt Og (and its sister peak, Mt Magog) and Nervous Knob. Basically watched sunset on the peaks around Queenstown and the lake there. Again, words cannot describe...wish I had not deleted the pictures off my camera!! Google image Queenstown gondola and Lake Tekapo for a rough idea of what I was dealing with here :-)
Spent the rest of the night exploring the resort town of Queenstown. Everyone told me its so trashy/commercialized...maybe by NZ standards, but it was more like a really nice Lake George village to me. Got a kebab and then walked down by the lake. I have to say, I realized why my friend Duffer had planned to have his 21st bday there; lots of nice bars all over the place, butI left the group for Stewart Island before they got there later in the trip. The best thing about Queenstown (although I skipped the famous Fergburger b/c I was too hungry impatient) was the 7$ ice cream cone I got at the chocolatier called Patagonia. Imagine 2 tennis ball-sized scoops (one dark chocolate gelato, one fresh raspberry sorbet) on a chocolate wafer cone. It didn't matter that I was wearing a layer of long undies and gloves while I consumed this and watched a groups of bagpipers by the lakeside, it was the best ice cream experience of my life...and thats saying alot from me!
Again, had a ridiculously early night (one of the disadvantages of travelling alone in "big cities": I don't have the personality to just hit the bars by myself...).
Caught my 6:55am bus to Te Anau where I would meet up with my friends and head down for our overnight cruise on Milford Sound. This bus ride, although much shorter, was another gorgeous trip. Dawn over Queenstown and along the lake where we drove=...I don't even know, I keep saying gorgeous, but there's really no words to describe it. Imagine a rosy dawn, with the moon still up over the lake, with snow-topped peaks...GAH! I WANT MY PICS BACK
And then met my friends in Te Anau to go to Milford...but I gotta run to a lecture!
Ok, will continue tomorrow/later tonight maybe.
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