Saturday, July 30th - Baby sheep with solar technology to gardens in the not-so-warm sun

This morning we visited a non-so typical NZ farm.  Graham's farm of fruit trees sports all the latest high-tech, energy-wise gadgets from the U.S.A. - solar panels that power his home, led lighting, a windmill in the works, Stirling Engine fan on the wood stove in the kitchen, etc. He even collects rainwater for all his home water use (i.e., drinking, flushing toilet, and showering).  We enjoyed our lesson that there is much we can all be doing in our own country to be oil independent and low impact on our environment.  We also really enjoyed seeing a little lamb born just two days earlier, and having tea with Graham and his wife, Karen.  Special thanks to both for their warm hospitality and for Karen's amazing and delicious spread of baked goods.

In the afternoon we braved a sunny, but cold day in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens with Colin Meurk as our expert guide of the Gardening with Indigenous Vegetation section.  It was fun to see that these native plants with so much texture can be used in not so formal as well as formal gardening with spectacular results.

Tomorrow we have a day of rest before setting off to Kaikoura for a day trip on Monday.


Cheers, Mark

Friday, July 29 Mt. Cook Trip - Day 3

The highlight of our travels back to Lincoln on Friday was a stop at the Mt. John Observatory (Check out the 360 link toward the bottom of the linked page and more general info here).  Had we had clear weather at night, the appreciation for the dark sky in the area and the views of the heavens would have been punctuated, but just seeing the 360-degree view during daylight hours certainly made an impression.  It was super cool that one of the workers there told me that he got to not only see the space station pass over head just a week or so ago, but also Space Shuttle Atlantis on its last mission.

Even through things are starting to wind down with the course over here, there are still more adventures to come. Stay tuned, Meryl

Thursday, July 28 Mt. Cook Trip - Day 2

The next morning was cool and bright and we met up with a Department of Conservation Naturalist, Aki, who guided us on an 80-minute hike on the Governors (alpine forest) track at Mt. Cook.  Although Mt. Cook was still not willing to reveal itself, we still had beautiful views of the Southern Alps from our hike. 

We then had some time to explore the beautiful iSite and take a break before facing the elements for an afternoon hike to Kea Point.  As Mark says, “We tried it.  It was pretty hilarious.  The wind had picked up to 75 kph gusts, and we lost the trail in deep snow so we had to head back.”  

So we warmed up at the main hotel and Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Center (nice fire place at the entryway), and spent the afternoon watching a 3-D movie about Mt. Cook (Maori legend of how it was formed as well as stunning views from a plane flying around it) and planetarium shows.

We hope that the fact that Sir Edmund Hillary used Mt. Cook as just a part of his training ground for his assent to Mt. Everest helps inspire our students and deepens even further our appreciation for the enthusiasm for the out-of-doors that most kiwis possess.

That night we once again had a communal dinner and then played cards.

Wednesday, July 27 Mt. Cook Trip - Day 1

After having to shift our trip schedules on account of weather during our course, we had to take on our Mt. Cook trip, rain or shine. So we set out on our trip to Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park with not the best of weather conditions forecast for Mt. Cook proper; however, as a meteorologist friend of ours here says, “the mountains have more character with a bit of weather about.”

The day was gorgeous and sunny, and on the way there, we had several fun stops planned to break up the drive time.  First a stop at the Ashburton Domain (i.e., community playground and sport fields) to wake up with a zip line ride on a super high flying fox that was gifted from the Ashburton Kiwanis Club and is famous with the locals. 

Next up, a short hike through a beautiful forest remnant in Geraldine.  Like Riccarton Bush, the Talbot Forest Scenic Reserve is in the heart of the city and serves as an important reminder of the extensive broadleaf/podocarp forests that once covered large areas of Canterbury. It is managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and has a dedicated group of locals that helps to keep after it.  Unlike Riccarton Bush, it is more vulnerable to predators having no predator fence.

The views from The Hilltop Café showed us the transition views from the Canterbury plains and lush green hills and the drier alpine environment of Mackenzie Country. 

When we stopped again at Lake Tekapo a short time later, the snow-covered mountaintops of the Southern Alps were almost completely 360 around us and the lake was sparkling with its glacial blue water. The waters of Lake Tekapo are also used to generate electricity through the Tekapo Canal.

The Church of the Good Shepherd built in 1935 to the glory of God as a memorial to the pioneers of the Mackenzie Country. Congregations of the three main faiths worship regularly in the Church, which offers awe inspiring views of the lake and mountains through the altar window.

When we finally arrived at the turnoff for Mt. Cook, we could see blue skies all around us except for the direction where we are headed.  I mentioned that Mt. Cook is the tallest mountain in New Zealand at 12,316 feet and seems to create its own weather, and Max observed that it was like Denali in Alaska.  The area does indeed conjure images of Alaska in the fall with a dry, harsher environment.

That night we settled into our fun backpackers with the potential for Mt. Cook right outside our window and set about making our dinner in the communal kitchen before getting a good night’s rest.  During the night we were serenaded by 95 kilometer per hour (kph) wind gusts howling at our windows.

Queenstown, ADRENALINE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

At last, it was our three-day weekend off. There was one destination that appealed to us, and our adrenal glands: Queenstown. Nestled in Southwest New Zealand, the small town hosts a variety of activities that would open our eyes and amp up our courage. For the first day, we traveled early in the morning from Christchurch to Queenstown by air. The landing was one of the most interesting landings I've ever had, where the plane flew over the mountains and landed rapidly onto a very bumpy landing strip. We had our first interesting sight right after we landed.

Interesting plane decorations in Queenstown airport

On the first day, we split up into several groups to pursue our interests. Matt, Emily, and I went skiing for a half day at Coronet Peak. Matt was an experienced snowboarder, but Emily and I were two novices when it came to skiing. While Emily adjusted quickly, I had my hands full for the day, where I had 34 falls learning how to ski on the bunny slopes. Jane, Ally, Kinsley, and Katie went horseback riding in the beautiful country around Queenstown. The remainder of our group, Scott, Max, and Alexis, went to visit the amazing sites used to film various segments of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Emily and Matt at Coronet Peak

Alexis, Max, and Scott en route to the set of LOTR

 Despite a few mishaps, it was a great day. At night, we had dinner in the city that also opened our eyes as well as our pockets. Our stay at the Black Sheep Backpackers was also an interesting one. While others probably had pretty nice rest, the five of us (Alexis, Max, Matt, Scott, and I) definitely had a loud night with a sick roommate. Nevertheless, we were off to another day of adventure the next day. Five of us ( Alexis, Max, Emily, Katie, and I) journeyed to Milford Sound in the Fiordland National Park. Scott and Matt took on skiing at the Remarkables, and Ally, Jane, and Kinsley took to shopping in Queenstown.

At the peak of the Remarkables

Commercial district of Queenstown

Milford Sound

On our last day, we took to packing and shopping around Queenstown. While several of us have already tried the famous Ferg burgers, it was my first attempt. Matt and I finished these big  burgers with some difficulty.

Eating big burgers

Snowy Queenstown

Unfortunately, we did not make it out of Queenstown. The flights were canceled due to weather. Nonetheless, our airline gave us very nice accommodations and a long coach ride back to Christchurch.

Delayed at the airport

Passing through New Zealand - coach ride

We passed through the Mt. Cook area on our way back to Christchurch, and it gave us a little preview to our next trip to hike the mountains and Lake Tekapo. This concludes our time in Queenstown. 

 Reporting from the snowy south

 Peter Zhang

Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans...

Just a quick update to let you know everyone is back safely from Queenstown. -m&m

Snow Day(s) Sunday, July 24 and Monday, July 25

When it rains, it pours, or in this case, snows...

For those of you who are parents and friends and family that are following the blog, yes, we are supposed to be in Kaikoura today...

It has been 24 hours since our students were supposed to arrive back from their three-day free weekend in Queenstown; however, New Zealand has just experienced the largest and far reaching snow event in 20 years and all of the flights from Queenstown and Christchurch have been cancelled.  There has even been snow on the North Island which is highly unusual.  We have just received calls from the students that they are coming back via buses that are leaving now.  Everyone is fine, and we believe that they have had fun on their free weekend with the exception of the past 24 hours.  At least the airlines fed them well and put them up for the night.

Meanwhile, here in Christchurch, our kids are enjoying the snow (which at 2pm here is continuing to pour down). Yesterday at 2pm when our students were supposed to be arriving back, it started to snow with the sun out.  It did not last long and nothing stuck.

View from our flat Sunday, July 24 at 2pm as snow came down with the sun out.

Overnight; however, Christchurch even experienced ice and snow at the beaches and Lincoln University is closed.  Christchurch and Lincoln are usually only a bit more cold than Gainesville, FL in the winter, so to have snow, and in this quantity, is not a common event.  A resident friend here tells us every three years or so a sprinkling down to the level of the plains here is not unusual though.  Here is the same view from our flat  this morning:

We are bummed that everyone has to experience this unusual event and that it, once again, puts a wrinkle in our plans, but we hope that everyone remains bundled up and in good spirits.  Safe travels to all and we will post an update of the students safe arrival as well as our plans soon.

Stay tuned, and if you could, send some unusually warm weather from the States and we will send you some unusually cold weather from here! Cheers, Meryl : )

T and J with their "snowsheep" mid morning, Monday, July 25.

Production and Conservation: Finding the Baaaaaalance

Kia Ora!

On our first day back from our beautiful trip to the west coast we visited Pam Anderson, a local landowner and conservation champion, at her property in Pigeon Bay, Banks Peninsula. Pam showed us how landowners can be actively involved in conserving native wildlife with her property, Balcarres, as a shining example. Balcarres is a unique sheep and beef farm that balances production and conservation. We started the day learning about the conservation aspect of Balcarres and Pam pointed out parts of her property covenanted with the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust Covenant where stock is excluded and indigenous vegetation grows.

Pam points out her property and some indigenous plants.

Pam shows an example of covenanted land that is fenced off.

Next we got to see the other aspect of Balcarres: sheep farming! We saw sheep being herded and then got to meet the herding dogs afterwards, which is always a cause of major excitement.

Sheep!

After much fawning over the puppies and having to drag a few of our travelers away from the dogs we got a stunning view of the controversial mussel farm. There we learned that, although unpopular among some of the locals, the business is sustainable and even somewhat beneficial because it requires the water to be very clean.

The black lines in the water are the buoys used to grow the mussels.

Enjoying the view.

Lunch was our next stop, where we got to see some of the products made from the sheep’s wool. Pam told us some more about the Banks Peninsula Conservation trust and her sustainable ‘extensive rather than intensive’ farming approach. And on the happy note of seeing someone like Pam who is so passionate about conservation, we set off for Queenstown on our free weekend tomorrow!

Cheers! 

-Emily

From the City of Light to an Elfin Forest (West Coast Day 3)

After a quick dip in the Tasman Sea by a few of our crazy crew, we made our way back to Lincoln via Reefton (famous for being the first city in the southern hemisphere with electric lights) and the St. James Walkway (complete with “Elfin Forest” covered in snow) at Lewis Pass.

We all enjoyed the lush green rainforest of the West Coast filled with flax, cabbage trees, black tree ferns, unfurling korus, and Nikau palms, and are looking forward to a weekend off to explore on our own.  Our students are headed (en mass) down to Queenstown on Friday.  Why they did not want to go to the Dunedin Chocolate Festival this weekend instead is beyond me!

Safe and happy travels, Meryl :  )