Top of the World

Hawaii - 9:45 A.M., New Zealand - 7:45 A.M. (Monday, August 8)

Kia Ora, Reader!

It's been awhile since I last wrote.  Forgive me.  Last week was pretty brutal with two essays due and a crappy week altogether.  But I am back!  And stronger than ever.

There is so much to write about since much has happened since my last entry.  First, last weekend was a busy couple of days!  On Friday, I went to my first Zumba class.  It was definitely worth it!  It was an intense one-hour dance, dance, dance, move, move, move, kind of class.  I had heaps of fun and though I was a little anxious at first, I had a great time.  Then, on Saturday, I made an early morning stop to the Farmer's Market with a few friends.  LOVE the Farmer's Market!  Breakfast consisted of this beauty:

Egg and cheese crepe:)

I realize it seems pretty silly to be taking so many pictures of food... Well, I promised a very dear friend of mine I would take pictures of everything I eat (well, at least one food item every day!) and I've tried so many different things I want to remember it all!  And what better way than pictures?  :)

After making it to the Farmer's Market, the supermarket, and dropping off our groceries at home... my friends and I met again for a little bit of hiking!  To give you a time frame of how long we were gone, I left at 11:45 A.M. and didn't return until about 7:30 P.M.  We caught the bus to Portobello, a town in the Otago Peninsula, and began our adventure.

My friends, Emily and Sarah R., on the bus to Portobello!

Heading away from Portobello and towards Allan Beach

The view looking towards Allan's Beach and the Peninsula

Emily and Sarah, stopping for a few pictures.

Me and Sarah L., enjoying the scenery and shedding some layers.

We then reached Allan's Beach Road, which would lead us to Mt. Charles, where we would begin our hike.  So in a way, we walked an hour to actually reach our hiking spot!  But needless to say, we were blessed with some absolutely gorgeous sights.

Adventurous friends.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Jumping pictures, of course! 

 This is where our hike actually begins!

From here, we encountered mud, mud, and MORE mud.  But it didn't damper our spirits!  (After a bit of a slip and fall) We continued to trek on and up the mountain.  Over fences and battling sheep poo, we walked and walked and walked.  But, of course we stopped and took heaps of pictures!

Post muddy section of the hike--still at the beginning.

Allan's Beach

Sarah L. from MA (I think).

Rocks which we insist are from Lord of the Rings:)

Sarah R. from Flagstaff, AZ.

This puts my heart at peace every time.

Emily from Rochester, NY.

Preparing to conquer the next peak.

Sarah L.'s first walking stick.

Sarah L.'s second walking stick.

Emily's antlers.

Always in good company.

The following pictures are the view from the top of  Mt. Charles:)

Yep.  It happened.  And we were successful!

The top of Mt. Charles was spectacular, to say the least.  You could see all of Allan's Beach (pictured directly above), as well as a large body of ocean, the other side of the peninsula, the lake we saw as we walked on Allan's Beach Road, and more hills than I've seen in my life.  It was... breath-taking and amazing and oh so green.  It was a bit chilly at the top, but my heart has never felt so warm.  My soul has not been so at peace for weeks (since orientation at Shakespear Regional Park, to be exact).  Until I went on this hike, I unknowingly felt claustrophobic and bored.  But this adventure rejuvenated my spirit and gave me the perk I needed to move forward.

To be honest, I never thought I was the die-hard hiker.  I still don't believe I am.  But I can't live in a big city engulfed with tall buildings and skyscrapers.  I can't be apart from the mountains or the ocean.  There's something about the pure, simple yet Godly beauty of the natural world that blows my mind and heals my heart and soul.  I feel most at peace with the world and the chaos in it when I am looking at the sky, feeling the breeze, listening to the ocean, lying on a grassy field, or tramping through the mountains.  I feel as if everything will be okay; that despite the ugliness in the world, there is so much good too.  I guess in a way, the beauty before us--the every day beauty commonly looked over, restores my faith in the world and the cosmos.

I was really sad to leave this heavenly place, but like many things, this adventure had to come to an end.  So we headed back down, completing the remainder of our hike.  It was much faster going down to our surprise--a sweet 30 minutes!  Definitely bad for the knees, though.  But upon reaching flat terrain, I took this lovely picture of our shoes--post mud and sheep poop.

The purpose for my name of my facebook album: "My shoes may be dirty but my soul is clean."

We then followed Allan's Beach Road back as the sun made its descent in the sky.

We had a bit of a wait for the bus so we stopped by a pub and had some good eats!  We finished off with a small bacon buttie, chips (fries) with aioli sauce, and garlic bread (carbs galore, right?).  Then we caught the bus (which gave me motion sickness because of the windy road) and headed off in our own directions.  We were supposed to meet up in an hour to watch some rugby; unfortunately, I didn't meet up due to queasiness and complete exhaustion.  So I showered, retired to my room, and knocked out.

On Sunday, I stepped further out of my comfort zone and attended a Bollywood Dance Workshop with Sarah R. and Emily.  It was so much fun!  Two hours of Bollywood dancing was both intense and amazing.  Their dances are quite complicated but so beautiful.  To give you an idea of what we learned or what Bollywood dance looks like, check out this video:

This is actually one of the two songs we learned.  We didn't learn the whole song, but we did learn up to the chorus.  The dance we learned to the chorus is exactly the same but my grace is nothing like hers!  However, I will admit that it was probably one of the greatest experiences and activities I have taken part in thus far!  Stepping out of my comfort zone continues to bring only great things:)

After battling this past week's essays and such, I enjoyed a relaxing and therapeutic weekend.  Friday, I received a box from my boyfriend containing contents which could heal a broken heart: his sweatshirt & t-shirts, my favorite li hing candies, li hing mui powder, and a digital picture frame (loaded with pictures from home<3).  Oh, and I can't forget a flash drive to replace my lost one.  It was the perfect end to a crappy week.

On Saturday, I again went to the Farmer's Market.  I didn't buy breakfast this time, but I did give in to 2 kg of frozen raspberries for $20.  Pretty steep but I think it will last me quite some time!  I did a little bit of shopping at the market then went home where I did heaps of reading.  My flatmate, Stephanie (newest addition to the flat--from Alaska but goes to school in Indiana) and I made some delicious stirfry (thanks to Noh!) including chicken, bell peppers, onions, garlic, eggplant, and carrots.  It was fantastic.  I did more reading and then went to the unipol.  I finished off the night with a little bit of girl-talk, a few games of spoons, a game of BS, and more reading.

Sunday was fantastic.  I met up with my IFSA-Butler study abroad group and we traveled to a little town called Naseby.  It was a long bus ride... approximately 2 1/2 hours.  On the way to Naseby it was really windy; there was so much snow on the way there!  And it was difficult to see the mountains.  But it was absolutely beautiful.  Many stores in Naseby were closed when we arrived.  But we enjoyed a delicious croissant sandwich and a square (amazing dessert!  Mine had chocolate, peanuts, and a few other delicious things).  Then our group of 21 split into two--half of us going to curling, the other half to luging.  My group tried curling first, which was simply great times.  It's so strategic and requires more skill than I ever thought!

That black stuff is used to help you walk on ice.

Emily ready for curling!

This nice lady taught us the wonderful sport of curling!  She also tried to teach us the unique skills it takes to participate in it:)

So if you don't know anything about curling, here's what you should know: one person rolls the stone from one end to the other.  (Mind you, there are many techniques used to release the stone.)  There are two other people towards the middle who act as the "sweepers".  Their job is to sweep the ice in front of the stone to help the stone pick up speed.  The final person is on the target, marking where the stone should be aimed for the sake of the person curling the stone.  (It's called curling because of the way the stone curls once it's released.)  The object is to get the stone as close to "home" (the target) as possible.  If the stone touches the borders on the side, doesn't reach the line before "home", or goes past the line indicating home, then it is out.  Additionally, the sweepers can sweep up to the line in the middle of the target.  After it reaches the middle of the target, the opposing team can sweep to help it go out of "home" (thus, preventing the team from scoring).

My friend, Lena, trying her hand at curling.

The target ("home") and stone.  The blue on the left are the borders when, if touched, make a stone "out of play".

This yellow stone on the blue part of the target is my point for the yellow team!

Me and Sarah getting read to sweep for the yellow team.

After about an hour and a half of curling, we were able to try a bit of luging!  It is an adrenaline rush, let me tell you!  I was getting a bit frustrated initially but after some practice and switching my sled-thing, I improved on my turns and had much more fun!  It is definitely exhilarating and intimidating once you pick up speed.  I was really nervous around some of the sharp turns, skimmed the wall quite a bit, had one pretty significant crash, but all's well.  I think despite the downfalls, it was an amazing experience and I am so glad I took part in it!!!

My group and I getting ready for some luging!

The nice guy who taught us how to luge.

After the curling-luging experience, we caught our bus back to Dunedin and enjoyed some delicious pizza at Filadelfio's.  It was the perfect ending to a full day; I am feeling, as always, truly blessed to be able to have this amazing adventure.

 That's all I have for you now... I know there is much more to come in the future!  I have just received a package from my mom containing many necessities such as: Sapporo Ichiban Saimin, oyster sauce, Yoshida sauce, a musubi mold, nori, chazuke mix, and hashi!  So once I purchase some spam (an unfortunate $4), spam musubi night will happen and I will take many pictures of my friends having a taste of Hawaii;).

I hope I did not overwhelm you with all of this information and all of these pictures!  However, I do realize that pictures are so much easier (and more enjoyable) to go through, so I will leave you with several pictures that have been taken by my friends.  I feel the need to post these especially because another dear friend of mine mentioned I don't have many pictures of myself and the beautiful places I am seeing... thus, I hope this will fill in the gaps so you know how much I am truly enjoying everything about New Zealand:)

Lauren and me trying not to be blown away at Shakespear Regional Park during Orientation Week.

From left to right: Jack, Lauren, Ethan, Lillian, me, and Rayce stopping for a picture in the infamous Shakespear frame after our bush-walk.

Trying my hand at poi at a marae during Orientation.

Washing dishes after some delicious kai (food) at the marae.

From left to right: Tara, me, and Bryden.

Enjoying a bit of wine tasting with Molly and Amelia.

Me on Baldwin Street, the Steepest Street in the World.

Me at St. Clair's Beach, enjoying being near the ocean again!

Stopping for some pictures on a windy day at St. Clair's Beach.

Me and Sarah L. enjoying the sights at St. Clair.

 Thanks for reading and keeping up with me, dear Reader.  I hope you are enjoying my adventures as much as I am and I hope the pictures touch your heart as much as the sights touch mine.  I realize that pictures could never do the real thing justice, but I hope they inspire you to pursue your own adventures as well.

Best wishes for a full and fantastic week!

Cheers:)