Pizza Night

Roasted garlic, rosemary, butternut squash and goat cheese pizzas pre-baking

What more could you want?

Queenstown

Finally time to post about my trip last weekend to Queenstown!  Better late than never, right?  On Friday evening, nine of us set out from Dunedin for a fun weekend in Queenstown.  In 3.5 hours, we arrived, checked into our hostels, and set out to explore town!  Queenstown reminds me a lot of Whistler... its a small town in the mountains made up mostly of tourists and hardcore skiiers/snowboarders here for the season.  Compared to Whistler, there are many more students than families, hostels than fancy hotels, and, from what I can tell, a lot less snow.  But despite the lack of snow, there were a ton of people there last weekend.  Our first night, we explored what the Queenstown nightlife has to offer, from the World Bar (famous for it's teapot shots), to the IceBar, which was -9˚C and served drinks in ice cups, among others.  Late that night we made our first stop of the weekend at the famous Fergburger, which is apparently the best burger in the world.  Even at 4 am it was packed, but it was worth the 30 minute wait.  Charlie and I split a tofu burger, and I swear there's something magic in those burgers...

Beautiful lakefront Queenstown

The next morning we took a walk along the lake front through the farmers market, then sat and had amazing mochas at a cafe (I swear, they put a little magic in everything in Queenstown).  For lunch, we did Fergburger again (and this wasn't the last time this weekend), and Ewout conquered the Big Al.... 1 lb patty, some chicken, some bacon, and a couple of eggs.  It was truly a vegan's nightmare.

 The Big Al....

The most delicious mocha ever

We did the traditionally touristy gondola ride to the top of the hill and two rides each on the luge.  It really is a stunning place - pictures can't do it justice.  I can see why this is a such a popular tourist destination!  After our two races on the luge (which I may or may not have lost...) we spent a while watching paragliders and bungee jumpers.   People really do like their extreme sports here.  That evening we ordered Fergburger for the 3rd time (it really is that good, I promise...), played Settlers of Catan in the hostel, to which all of us are a little bit addicted, then spent a little more time exploring the town at night.

 Our group at the top of the gondola

 The bottom of the luge ride

On Sunday we said farewell to Queenstown around noon and set off the head back to Dunedin... 

But about an hour and a half into the drive, we realized that we had taken a wrong turn and had been driving in the wrong direction for an hour!  However, it turned out to be a good mistake when we stumbled upon Puzzling World, which Steph had been wanting to go to for years.  So we spent a couple of hours in the illusion rooms, wandering through the labyrinth, and playing puzzles in the lobby before turning around and heading back the right direction.  Even though we got back a few hours later than intended, it was well worth it, and it was amazing to get to drive through the New Zealand countryside during daylight.  More sheep and gorgeous mountains than I ever could have dreamed of...

Illusion rooms.  A miniature Charlie and (especially) giant Ewout

Classes and more

So I've now had two weeks of classes here at the University of Otago, and things are going pretty well!  I'm taking Introduction to Pacific Societies, Social Inequality in NZ, Freshwater Ecology, and Soils in the Environment.  The classes feel so different from the ones I'm used to at Bowdoin because they're much bigger (60-100 or so people) and no one seems to really participate or ask questions at all.  I am still really enjoying them though, and I think it will be nice to have a little bit of anonymity for a semester. :)  I'm enjoying all of the classes a lot, but I think Soils in the Environment has surprised me by being my favorite so far.  I'm also quite excited about Freshwater Ecology, as we have group research projects that we will be working on throughout the semester (which we sign up for tomorrow).  We're also doing a pretty cool project in Social Inequity where we have to take photos representing the different types of inequality and caption them with quotes from the readings.  Should be fun!

Since schoolwork hasn't picked up too much yet, I've still been finding time to explore Dunedin more.  Last Friday I went to the Jaffa Race on the final day of the Cadbury Festival with Ryan and two other Americans, Morgan and Claire.  It involves 50,000 Jaffas (orange-flavored chocolate balls that are quite popular here) bouncing down Baldwin St., the steepest street in the world.  We each bought a Jaffa, and even though none of us won, it was still a fun time.  It was just so weird to see so much chocolate flying down a hill...

We also celebrated the birthday of one of my flatmates, Jeroen, last Saturday.  We went out to this fun little Japanese restaurant, called Jizo.  And as he is a very colorful person, we decided to bake him a suitably colorful cake to celebrate!   

I just got back from a weekend trip to Queenstown with my flat mates.  It was really fun and I have lots of pictures to share, but I'll save that for later!

New home

Happy Monday! Today is the first day of class here (which I'll write more about later, after I've had all of my classes) but I thought I would take a quick break to share some pictures of my flat here.  As I said before, I'm living in a quaint little flat with six other people on Queen St., about a 10 minute walk from campus.  It definitely has it's quirks, such as the doors and sinks that make me think this house was built for small folk, it's pretty comfortable.  My bedroom's up on the top floor, and I have to admit, it's grown on me quite a bit since I first got here.  I think putting up decorations and pictures really helped me feel more at home.  :)

The view of my new home up the driveway

My cozy little bed (note the very important hot water bottle!)

Awkward small & short sink

Living in a house made for hobbits?

Train trip & farmer's market

Yesterday we went on the scenic Taieri Gorge Railway trip to Hindon with other international students.  It was beautiful!  So many rolling hills with sheep, little streams, and trees forever.  Here are some photo highlights from the trip:

Today, Ryan and I visited the Otago Farmer's Market at the Railway Station.  I was very impressed by the amazing selection of everything fresh - vegetables, fruits, cheeses, honey, meats and fish... I am sure I will be a frequent visitor.  As much as I love my Bellingham Farmer's Market, it was nice to find some good fresh vegetables actually cheaper than you would get them at the grocery store.  My flatmate, Charlie, works at the crepe stand there, so we had to give the honey and slivered almond crepe a try...

First week abroad!

Kia Ora!  I'm now a few days into my semester at University of Otago, in Dunedin, New Zealand, and I've decided it's time to write my first blog post.  I arrived on Sunday from Hawaii after a long 24 hours of traveling and was greeted by a very chilly 2˚C - much colder than I was a day before!  Even just from the plane ride in the drive to my flat from the airport I've fallen in love with the scenery of New Zealand.  It's such a lovely mix of beautiful coastline, impressive mountains, and majestic rolling hills dotted with many more sheep than I ever imagined.  I can't wait to explore more of the country!

Settling into my flat has been fairly easy, but the biggest shock has been how truly cold it is inside.  I'd been warned it was cold, but I didn't really realize the extent to which that would be true.  The university flats are very cheaply made and have no central heating and literally no insulation.  Electricity is absurdly expensive, so the heatpumps and space heaters are used very sparingly.  It's essentially the same temperature inside as it is outside.  It definitely made me nervous the first night when I was cold wearing sweats and using 3 blankets, but I'm already adjusting and learning to wear a lot more layers than I normally do.  Long underwear every day!  Besides that, I am very happy in my little flat, living with 3 dutch students, 2 kiwi hosts, and one other American student from Bates (!).  It's a little funny in that all the doorknobs and sinks are very low - like knee height.  I think it must have been built for shorter people.  It's a bit up a hill from the Uni campus, but there's a pretty nice view over the city and it's close to George st., where most shops and cafes are.

Red-billed Gull

Clocktower on Uni Campus

Hot Honey Blackcurrant at Governor's Cafe (new favorite drink)

Since I've been here, most of my time has been spent getting acquainted with my flat and the campus, and getting everything sorted out before classes start.  Getting my courses finalized, applying for an 18+ card, signing lots of forms... On Tuesday Ryan and I went on a wildlife boat tour with a few other exchange students (from the US and Germany) around Otago harbor and out to the point, where we got to see lots of wildlife including Albatross chicks, fur seals, and a blue penguin!  It was a beautiful boat ride (even if a little cold...) and it was so rejuvenating to get out on the ocean for a few hours.  And seeing everything from the water really helped me orient myself in this new city.

Lamb being packaged and sent off to N. America and Europe

Stewart Island Shag (and Albatross)

Anyways, that's all I have for now!  Classes start next Monday, and I'm sure I'll have lots more to say by then.  Hope everyone had a happy 4th of July!  Last night we celebrated here with a bunch of other Americans, but its not really the same event half a world away...