Australia and the Road Home

Well this is it. The final chapter of my journey. I was sitting working on applying for internships when it hit me that I will not be going back to New Zealand.

The past week and a half since I got home has been a bit of a whirlwind. My parents wasted no time finding things for me to do around the house, and I have been trying to work as much as I can at Blue Ribbon BBQ (Still the best BBQ in Boston). Sudbury is a sleepy town when nobody your age is in it (although its pretty sleepy even when my friends ARE home). Luckily friends will start to come home this weekend for Thanksgiving, and Turkey day will be followed by my return to Greenville.

Before I reflect on the experience as a whole, I first thought I would give you a quick overview of my trip to Australia. Here are some of the highlights:

Melbourne-Walking 9 miles from St. Kilda to Melbourne city.
-The Chicken Parma scene-Melbournians love their Chicken Parma (over fries of course). How this scene developed I couldn't tell you but those who are a part of it take it pretty seriously.
-The nightlife-amazing.

Sydney-Coogee Beach, my home for two nights. So easy and laid back. The walk to Bondi Beach along the bluffs will take your breath away
-Sydney as an icon: Sydney is one of those places that when you get there you cannot believe that you have actually made it there. Standing in front of the bridge and Opera House definitely makes you feel that way. I was lucky enough to actually get to see a show in the Opera House as well.

Byron Bay-Much like most beaches and surf spots in Australia, Byron Bay could  not have been more laid back. The people were friendly and the whole town never let you forget that you were on a beach.

-Kangaroo-I was proud that I made an unbelievable kangaroo dinner for myself at the hostel. Its a meat that I have always wanted to try and it lived up to the hype. Delicious.

-Brisbane-Getting to pet kangaroos and hold Koalas is something that seems truly Australian.

Overall, Australia was a great end to the trip. The beaches are unlike any in the world. Its beauty may match that of New Zealand, but in far different ways. They really are not even comparable.

Thanks to Susannah Kelly, Kristin Tanabe, and Adam Mark for putting me up, showing me a good time and saving me some money along the way-always crucial in Aussie!

A lot of people have asked me what I took away from the experience. My response, though different every time, has lacked luster. In all honesty, I don't know how to describe it. You can try to describe the friendliness of the people or the natural beauty of the land, but no simple adjective would really do it justice. I would be lying if I said that I had the perfect study abroad experience but, if I were to look back on my goals for the trip, I think that I got out of it everything that I wanted to.

Furman has a way of grinding you down. People say that there is a bubble around Furman and until you escape it you don't really realize that its true. I knew that I needed to get away for a semester and try my hand at something new. Furman's strengths are its weaknesses as well. Its a close knit community, but it sometimes feels like everyone is in your business. My hope was that in leaving for a semester I would come back feeling refreshed and ready to get back to the bubble. Sure enough, I am refreshed and more than ready to return.

You know the old saying "You don't know what you've got till it's gone"? Well I have never felt more confident that the saying is true. There are certain aspects about Furman that will always be frustrating and I admit that. But what the New Zealand experience taught me is that I need to have my priorities in order. At the top of that order is friends. I don't mean doing everything for the fraternity-something I got far too caught up in-so that we can all have a good time together. I mean actually spending quality time with them. Sitting around the apartment with some beers laughing and picking on each other. That should be priority number one.

Priority 1A? Grades. However, I was obviously (well...maybe) smart enough and had the work ethic to come to Furman in the first place. So learning in my opinion will fall into its place if you devote enough time to it (it is here that the reassessing priorities comes into play).

There's a lot of stuff that falls below the two that I mentioned above. Extracurriculars (this is where time towards the fraternity should be focused), club sports, etc. All important, but not nearly as important as the two above.

Admittedly, I did not have my priorities in order when I left. But I know that I will now.

I would be wrong to not include family. When I am at school, my friends may become my family, but I have never had a greater appreciation for the group of people that are waiting for me back in Sudbury, Southborough, New Hampshire, North Carolina etc. From my grandparents to my sisters, parents to my dog, it was extremely hard being thousands of miles away and hours ahead. I like my proximity to my family. I'm not too close, yet not too far away. I never appreciated that enough.

One thing that I could not be more thrilled about is the revival of my relationship with reading. I ended up finishing 14 books in New Zealand, for leisure that is, which I think is more leisure reading than I have done in the last 7-8 years combined. I think part of the reason for this is the lack of distractions. When I was not traveling, I was cooped up in Hamilton. When I face this situation at school, inevitably one of my friends will always be there to distract me. My New Zealand American friends, as great as they were, were never really kicking me in the butt to come out. This allowed me to have a lot more time with my kindle.

I legitimately believe that reading makes you smarter. It sounds simple but I think far too many people take that for granted. I have opinions on so many more topics purely from the books that I read in New Zealand. It stimulates the brain and makes you think. That can never be a bad thing.

Finally is my relationship with Walker. From reading this blog, you would probably think that Walker is my best friend at school. Truth be told, he and I did not hang out as much as one might think at Furman. But through our travels I learned a lot about him. I can't speak for Walker, but I would hope that he would feel the same way about me. I couldn't have asked for a better travel buddy. We may have gotten sick of each other over the two weeks that we were with each other seemingly 24 hours a day, but I think that we can now consider each other to be two of the closer friends that each of us has at school. One of our mutual friends said that he did not expect us to hang out as much as we did. To that friend and the rest of our school buddies I would say that you cannot really understand how lucky we are to have each other (and I mean all 15 of us, you know who you are) until you are separated from the group. Wait until graduation. You'll see. In the end, I don't know what I would have done without one of my friends to travel with me. Thank goodness for Walker!

If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.-Ecclesiastes 4:10
 
So that's my journey. I don't know if there will be much on this blog anymore, but if there is I will be sure to let you know. I would like to firstly thank those who helped to make my experience in New Zealand unforgettable. Walker, being able to travel with a friend made the experience 1000 times better. To my American friends that I made in New Zealand, I hope that we will be able to reunite soon. To my kiwi friends and Bryant Hall mates, thank you for helping to make the transition into the New Zealand way of life seamless. To those I met along the way, I hope that your journeys are filled with joy, fun and adventure. As mine were.


And to all of my readers-friends, family, and those who helped me reach over 3000 hits, THANK YOU. You are the reason I kept this going throughout.

Kia Ora,

Wilson

Praise the Lord, everything he has created, everything in all his kingdom. -Psalm 103:22

Look how far we have come!

As I sit back and think about it, my time here is really almost over. Its been amazing to think about the end of my experience closing in, but such is really the case. I have a total of eight days left in New Zealand, an eleven day trek through Australia, and 23 hours of flying until I'm back in Massachusetts. Anything I do in New Zealand at this point will pretty much be school related.  Classes end Wednesday and, aside from one exam, I'm almost on winter break. Need I remind you that it is only October 14th? I mean, most of my friends just finished midterms. 

It might be too early to reflect on my experience on the whole-I certainly expect Australia to be a big part of that too-but I don't think it's too early to reflect on some of the individual experiences that I have had here in New Zealand. 

I am really proud of everything that I have been able to see here in New Zealand. With a country as small as New Zealand, it would seem easy to see it all. And certainly it is a lot easier here than in most countries. But it is still by no means easy. I probably saw a lot more than most of the people that studied abroad with me, in a lot less time. While many of them will be staying here until the holidays, I have the luxury of being able to go home early without feeling that I could have done more. In fact that was part of my strategy. If I ever wanted to come back, there is plenty that I could still do. 

Things I wanted to do before that I ended up doing:

Marlborough Wine Region

Queenstown

Surf

Zorb

Hangi

While this list may look awfully short, I think thats because I didn't know what to expect coming in. 

Things I did that I didn't expect:

Bay of Islands (by far my favorite North Island spot)

Bungy (Never thought I would do it)

Glacier hike

Thermal Pools

Caves

With all of that said, I could definitely make another trip here. I think there is a lot of the world that I would want to see first, but there is plenty left for me to do here. Not surprisingly, much of it is the more expensive experiences...

Fly fishing in Taupo

Golf Cape Kidnappers

Take the Tranz-Alpine train from Greymouth to Christchurch

Skydive Fox Glacier

Dunedin

I've said it the whole trip, but I don't think that any one feature of New Zealand (geologically) is unique. But it is such a unique country. Why? Because where else in the world can you find all of this in a country this size? Nowhere. And I say that with much confidence. It's amazing that a country this small can hold so much beauty and different terrain. 

Here are some answers to questions you may have about New Zealand:

Favorite city?

Wellington would be the place that I would most like to live, but it gets boring as a visitor the fourth time you go. As a visitor, Queenstown really lives up to the hype. There's so much to do-it's a one-stop-shop New Zealand. 

Favorite activity? 

The Cape Reinga bus tour. It really included every aspect of New Zealand. Scenery. Ocean. Extreme sport. Sheep. Fish and chips. Maori culture. It was all there.

Favorite destination? 

South Island was awesome, but I think Bay of Islands takes the cake here. Best weekend trip in New Zealand in my opinion. Two and a half days, and you can really see it all. Unfortunately we only had two. 

Biggest differences in school? 

I think that if I were putting in 100% effort, (which admittedly I'm not because I'm pass failing all four classes) I would numerically be getting the same grades that I get at Furman. The difference is the letters that correspond with those numbers. 75 is an A-? Get me this grading scale at Furman! I would have a 4.0.

Biggest cultural difference?

New Zealand is a bilingual country. So everything is written in Te Reo as well as English. There weren't a ton of cultural differences, but this stood out, especially on campus. 

Best food?

This was probably the biggest letdown of New Zealand. The food just is not that much different from the US. Less pork. More potatoes. Thats about it. One nice thing though is the quality of fast food. You don't feel as gross eating it because New Zealand actually has quality control standards. US could learn a thing or two...

Where to next? 

I really want to do Thailand. I tried to make it happen while I was here, but it just didn't make logistical sense. In the end, I'm happy with how I did it all. But I am still insanely jealous of my friends that made it to Thailand. Doing the whole Europe thing is probably in the fold as well. 

I will reflect on the greater experience on the whole once I get back stateside. But figured I would wet your whistle with this. Sorry about the word vomiting!

Wilson

The East Coast and All Blacks

I spent the last five days at Walkers in Wellington (with a night visiting new friends in Palmerston North as well), celebrating his 21st birthday. It was a joyous occasion and we had a lot of fun. As always, though, it is nice to return to my own bed. 

As I sit here today, I am one month away from heading home. Yesterday was the three month mark. It is crazy to think that it has been that long since I last saw my parents, family and friends (except Walker of course), but time has really flown by. At some points it feels like it cannot be moving any slower but at other points it feels like just yesterday that I was staying at Kiwi Packa in Rotorua not knowing what the future might hold.

I have eight more days of classes, one exam, eleven weekend days and a ten day "study week" (to be spent across the ditch in Australia before leaving New Zealand. It's going to start getting hectic here in Hamilton pretty soon, so I figured I should first finish my spring break story.


After we left Queenstown, we were feeling a bit sick of the Magic Bus experience. It had been nice to get off of the bus for a few days but now we were back on with few of our friends still with us (except Gui). At this point, we were just working our way back towards Wellington.

Our first stop was a place called Lake Tekapo. Tekapo is a beautiful lake, as blue as any lake that you will ever see. On the other hand, there really is not much to do there, especially in the winter. But it was a great stop. We hiked to Tekapo's only landmark, a church overlooking the lake. It was a magnificent church made completely of stone and had a stunning view of the lake behind it. Unfortunately it was closed so we could not go in, but the outside views were plenty sufficient.

We spent that evening relaxing in the hot pools. After all of our hiking and walking, it felt great just to decompress at the bathhouse. That was my last night with Walker, as he would be heading to Mt. Cook and I would be heading to Christchurch for the night before flying back to Wellington to watch some rugby.

I was in Christchurch by about mid-afternoon the next day. It was a gorgeous day to be in a city known for its gardens. Unfortunately, that was not what I wanted to see.

As many of you probably know, Christchurch was hit by a massive earthquake nearly two years ago. It hit the central business district of the city, closing many stores and businesses. Beyond that, it made many houses unfit for living driving people out of the city. Much like New Orleans, it has been a long, slow process to get the city back in order. I went to check out what I could of the business district, and was appalled at what I saw. The heart of the city was completely unfit for use. Pretty much every major business had to move their offices, and most stores just did not come back. It was hard to navigate around the "red zone" to find anything I needed (a bank, at this point), but I eventually found "The Restart Mall," a mall made completely from shipping containers. It was good to see that the city had made enough progress to have that, but also very telling about how far the city still has to go.

Much like people would probably say that you cannot fathom the magnitude of the damage in New Orleans unless you see it in person, the same could be said for Christchurch. I had heard about how awful the earthquakes had been, but had no idea that it took out the whole heart of the city. Its amazing how much natural disasters can destroy a city, and my heart goes out to the city of Christchurch.

But with it, there is also hope. Because of the earthquake, New Zealand has completely redone their national building codes to help soften the blow of all future earthquakes. Hopefully steps like this can prevent such a tragic event from happening again.

I flew out of Christchurch the next morning and was back in Wellington by midday for the All Blacks game that night. Flying across the strait from the South to the North Island is like being inside of a pinball machine. You get tossed and turned, dip and dive, and you never know if you are going to make it. People are throwing up all around you and screaming. Walker said his plane was even perpendicular to the runway as they were landing before straightening out. Quite the experience.

As I headed to WestPac Stadium around seven, it was hard to believe that I was actually going to see the mighty All Blacks play in person. The stadium was packed despite the suspect Wellington weather, and it was an awesome environment for the game. To say it was unlike anything I had ever attended before would be true, but the atmosphere was definitely not as crazy as a Patriots game, much less when I went to the Super Bowl in 2008. It was a lot of fun though. I was sitting next to a five year old boy who was at his first All Blacks game. He knew all of the players and was just excited to be there. I could see just how much this team means to this country through that boy. It was a tight game at half-time. The All Blacks led by one point and the Argentinians were putting on quite the tackling display. There was a power mishap at half time, but that was quickly sorted out and the All Blacks went on to win 21-5. In fact, I did not even realize that the stadium lights were not supposed to go out at half time.

The next day I headed back to Hamilton. It had been one hell of a trip, but I was exhausted and ready to catch up on some much needed sleep in my own bed.


I will be pretty busy the next few weeks. I head to Australia October 20-Halloween. I head back to the US on November 2nd. See you on the other side!

Wilson

Milford Sound and a Snowy Trek

As Sunday evening falls upon us here in Hamilton, I must say that this was my favorite weekend here thus far. Although not having classes for four days can get a little boring around here, by Saturday you can find things to do and people to do them with. Especially in the warmer months. It was a warm and sunny weekend here, so we decided to finally check out the famous Hamilton Gardens. It also happened to be Spanish Heritage Day at the gardens, so that gave us a good excuse to go. Ive never been to such beautiful gardens. I think as the weather gets warmer I might go back just to relax and enjoy the beauty. Because of the cultural celebration there were also a lot of ethnic food vendors, which was great. Saturday night we went to a house party before heading out to the bars for the evening. It was definitely one of the more fun nights that I have had here. And today we went to the local pub to watch the local minor league Rugby team play. All in all it was a really fun weekend. I hope the weekends following will be similar.

Back to spring break....

When I last left off, we were about to head to Milford Sound. In order to get to Milford, you have to go through a series of mountains. Its a long windy road out to the sound, but the views are nothing short of spectacular. You come on to the famous Milford Road with the mountains staring you in the face. The buses that take you out to the Sound are specially equipped with glass roofs, because everything you want to see is staring down at you. We witnessed waterfalls and avalanches, snowfall and rainfall. Its a place unlike anywhere that you have ever been before. To get to the sound itself, you must go through a long tunnel underneath one of the mountains. Its one lane, and if you don't ride right in the middle, you risk clipping your car or bus on the roof. Its a place bustling with wildlife. The call of the world's only mountain parrot, the Kea, cut through the serene silence. And the water is so clear and fresh, that it is good luck to drink it straight from the river. But through it all, the sound remains the crown jewel.

Milford Sound is probably New Zealand's biggest tourist attraction. Cruises are constantly leaving the port and heading out into the sound. Walker and I had our reservations. We weren't as thrilled about the tourist attractions and found that the little side trips and activities could generally be much better. But for all of the hype, this place lives up to it. You are constantly surrounded by penguins, seals and dolphins. Look up and waterfalls are cascading off of the giant cliffs around you. Moss and rainbows are everywhere. If there was ever a place that has been so obviously touched by the hand of God, it was here. As I mentioned a few posts ago, we had spectacular weather when it mattered most, and our trip to Milford was no exception.

After we finished soaking that all it, we headed back to Te Anau. Te Anau lays half way between Queenstown and Milford. There is not much to do in the town itself, but it is surrounded by three of New Zealand's "Great Walks." The Milford, Kepler and Routeburn tracks all either start or end in Te Anau. When Walker spent the night at Abel Tasman he met some other college students that had recently done the Kepler Track and spoke very highly of it. I could tell that after he heard about it, there was nothing that he wanted to do more. I had my doubts. I had read a book about all of the Great Walks and Kepler never really stuck out to me. But in the end, I figured they all must be spectacular and it would be worth doing. Besides, there is nothing cheap to keep me busy in Queenstown, and I could probably use the exercise after all the partying anyways. So we hopped off the bus in Te Anau, found a hostel to stay in, and planned to head up Mt. Luxmore-the first leg of the Kepler track-the next day.

There was just one problem. Snow, and quite a bit of it, was predicted for the top of the mountain and we were not sure if the DOC would let us head out. We figured we would go there first the next morning and make sure it was still feasible.

When we checked in the next morning, they had no problem letting us head up. The reports had gotten a little less intense over the night so it looked as if we were in the clear. We headed to pick up some rental gear, but that took a little longer than expected. For a 14k uphill trek, time was now working against us. We were about to call it quits, but remembered that there was a water taxi service that could cut us across the lake and cut 6k (all of the flat stuff) off of our walk and drop us at the bottom of the mountain. We ended utilizing the service, and began our hike just after lunch.

The 8.4k we had left to do was not easy. It was literally all uphill. At no point did it level out. Switchback after switchback, we slowly worked our way up the mountain. The forest was cool, but nothing to really marvel at. When we finally got to the top of the treeline, it started to sleet. This made the forest look truly enchanted, and it was an awesome site to see. When we exited the treeline, however, we were in for a rude awakening. It had started to snow, and the weather was only picking up. We were soon caught in a tunnel of howling wind and a decent amount of snow. As a Boston kid, a little snow never bothers me. But this was different. At the bottom, it was a mild late winter day. Now we were dealing with freezing temperatures and frozen faces. But we pressed on, despite not being able to see to our left and right. About an hour later we made it to the hut. Luckily a pleasant German fellow had already started a fire and we were able to warm up pretty quickly. When the snow finally stopped, it was quite a site. A true winter wonderland surrounded us.

Our night at the hut was pretty uneventful. We played cards and made some hotdogs, and then woke up the next morning to no fire and bitter cold. We booked our way back down the mountain (14k this time) and made it back to town by lunch. We just relaxed for the rest of the day until our bus came that evening.

We headed back to Queenstown for one more night of mayhem. The next morning, we would be off for the final leg of our journey.


Have a wonderful week!

Wilson

Next time: Lake Tekapo, Christchurch, and the All Blacks game!

BUNGY BUNGY

Well I have been in Hamilton for almost two weeks since I have returned from break, and it really has not been as bad as I imagined. I finally feel like our group has made enough connections to be able to enjoy this place, and it is truly a blessing to come back to my own room and not have a care in the world. It makes the traveling that much better! In all of my downtime back here at school, I have been able to catch up with some friends back in the states and across the world. It's amazing that so many of my friends from Furman and people that I grew up with in Sudbury are scattered across the world, having equally amazing experiences. What makes it even better is knowing that they are having different experiences from me. Whether its hanging on the beaches of Australia, exploring old world Europe, taking safaris in Africa, or going to the Spanish clubs every night, all of their experiences bring something new to the table. I wish I could experience it all-and hopefully I do someday-but I value the experience that I have been able to have here in New Zealand and would not change it for anything. One thing that New Zealand has taught me is that I have time. If I want to get to these places that my friends are seeing, then damn it I will.

But back to spring break....

When I last left off, we were about to head into Queenstown. Now Queenstown has an amount of hype unlike any other place in the world that I have been to. When I told people that I would be living in New Zealand, they told me that I better make it to Queenstown. And the Kiwis understand too. They know that its a tourist hot spot, even though most have never even been there. All of this hype left me with serious doubt that it could live up to the hype. I imagined it to be a ritzy ski town, similar to Aspen and in many ways it was. But lets rewind for a second.

On the way from Wanaka to Queenstown is a place called the Kawarau Bridge. It was here that the original bungy jump took place when a wild man named A.J. Hackett was able to secure the bridge from the Maori people. It looks down over a river 42 meters below. Today the bridge still serves as one of the worlds most popular bungy spots. Now, I was not going to bungy. That type of thrill did not get me going. If anything, I wanted to skydive. But our whole bus ride, the driver kept hyping up the damn bungy to the point where I couldn't say no anymore. I convinced myself that you cannot go to Queenstown-known as the adventure capital of the world-and not bungy. In my last post I talked about a British fellow from my bus named Richard. He had told us that if we were thinking about doing something, we had to do it. If we didn't, we would be living with the regret of not doing it. This was probably the greatest piece of wisdom that I have received in New Zealand. If I had not done the bungy, I would have kept thinking about whether I should have done it or not.

At first, I thought I wanted to do the Nevis, which is over three times the length. But when Walker told me that he was just going to do the bridge, I agreed that the Nevis might be a little over the top. So we settled for the bridge. I don't think I took my headphones off for the two days before the bungy. Quite honestly, I was scared. More than scared, I was mortified. I was about to jump off of a bridge and rely on a cord to yank me back up? No thanks. But this was a new Wilson. So I pretended I was getting ready for a rugby game, trying to pump myself up with music. I knew it was all mental. As soon as my feet left that platform there was nothing I could do anyways. So all I had to do was jump off. Piece of cake. As I walked up to that bridge, I was ready. There was no turning back now. As I entered the cage to get harnessed up, all I could think about was the music that was playing in my headphones minutes before. I was amped. Now my feet were strapped together, so when I got up I had to hop my way up to the platform. I didn't look down, smiled for the pre-jump photo and waited for my go. I didn't even realize it but I was holding onto the wall of the platform. The jump master was telling me to let go, but I wasn't even paying attention. I was in the zone. I finally heard him and let go. It was time for my fate, my destiny. It was time to bungy. The countdown began.

5....What the hell am I doing, I thought to myself.

4....You are making a huge mistake.

3....You won't jump off that platform.

2....Too late now!

1....And away we go!

My feet left the platform and I was off. Now my form was less than perfect. I was no Olympic diver, heck I couldn't even dive during swim lessons back in the day. With my feet tied together all I could muster was a bunny-hop-over-the-edge-pencil-dive. My heart was racing, I was flying through the air. I started to have chest pains-to this day I believe that I had a minor heart attack. My body just did not know what to expect, and it definitely was not expecting this. I was hurtling towards the river when *SNAP* I flipped over and was dangling by my feet. This is where my form came to hurt me. I had to flip over eventually. I had a little whiplash as I was bouncing up and down, but I was loving it. What a rush! As I was lowered down into a boat below, I was completely out of it. It was a high the likes of which I had never experienced before. The guys in the boat told me to flip the bird to the camera, which I promptly did. I was not in the most flattering position, but I didn't care. You couldn't wipe that smile off of my face. As I walked up the hill I had to stop and catch my breath. It was euphoria. It was one of the coolest things I had ever done. I couldn't speak. When I got to the top, everybody asked how it was. "Sweet!" Was all I could muster through my wide grin.

It was one of the coolest things I had ever done, and yet I would never do it again. It is one of those thrills that I don't need to pay 180 bucks (I got a great deal that day though) for more than once. But you have to do it once. Now don't expect this crazy Wilson to come running back to the US. Have you ever seen the episode of Seinfeld where "Relationship George" is worried about his "world colliding" with "Independent George?" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPG3YMcSvzo) This is what would happen if I brought "Adventurous Wilson" back to "Normal Wilson" world. It will always be there, but I don't need my worlds colliding on a regular basis.

After we finished there, we headed into Queenstown. It was, as I expected, your average, quaint little ski town, set on the shores of a beautiful lake overlooking "The Remarkables" mountain range. Something about mountain ranges always gets me. They are always perfectly named. The Remarkables are by no means the exception to the rule. They are quite remarkable. But do not let the "quaint" nature of this little ski town fool you because when the sun goes down, this town heats up. For such a small town it carries a big reputation and one of the things it is known for is its party scene. The town has 46 bars, which in itself is quite remarkable. But beyond that, there are bars in every hole in every wall, and every bar is unique. From ice bars, to hot bars, Irish pubs to British taverns, this town has it all. It made for three quite entertaining nights out. On Friday night, the night that we arrived, we went out for a bar crawl with the rest of our bus group. It was the last time we would all be together, as we were all leaving Queenstown at different times. It was a lot of fun.

The next day we headed up to the top of the mountain overlooking Queenstown for a nice leisurely hike and some great views of the town and lake. The hike was less of a leisurely stroll and more of a treacherous climb, but we made it to the top. The views were stunning. Right below us sat Queenstown. Behind Queenstown was the lake. Behind the lake were The Remarkables. It was the view with everything. Also at the top was a luge track, which a bunch of us partook in. Imagine real life Mario Kart and you have luge. We got a drink and snack at the scenic overlook bar before sneaking onto the gondola to ride back down. That night, Walker and I decided to lay low. The night before had clearly gotten the best of us. We also wanted to plan our next moves. Monday we would be heading to Milford Sounds for the day, and Walker had decided that he wanted to stay off in Te Anau after our trip to the Sound and hike part of the famous Kepler track. It would be 14k up and 14k back, mostly uphill. I had not yet decided if I wanted to go, but I had all day Sunday to consider my options. Sunday was a rainy day, so we just went to the movies and prepared. I was going to go with Walker. We had come too far for me to ditch him now. Besides, I was still in "Adventurous Wilson" mode.

So we woke up early Monday morning to catch our bus, and we were on our way for the four hour drive out to the world famous Milford Sound.

To be continued....

Up next: Milford, Kepler, and back to Queenstown!

The Wild West Coast

Well, I made it back to Hamilton in one piece. Barely. My feet were cut up and ached, I felt like I hadn't slept properly in three weeks, and I'm starting to wonder if I should throw some of my clothes away (okay slight exaggeration). But that's what living out of a backpack (or two in my case) for almost three weeks does to you. Needless to say that I will really have to prepare myself (and probably get a new pack) if I want to backpack around the world some day. I have come back sick of sharing rooms with Walker and six others, sick of packing and repacking my clothes every morning, and ready to sleep in my own crumby bed. Hey, at least its mine.

I'm sure at this point you're thinking the trip stunk. Quite the contrary. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. But more reflection later. Let's return to the summary of my travels.

When I last left you, I had just found Walker in Abel Tasman and was ready to hop on the Magic Bus. The Magic Bus was everything I expected. A cheap bus with a driver who is instructed to talk about every pebble on the side of the road. Such is life on a tour bus. But was I complaining? Nope. They were getting me around the South Island "cheap as" so I was as happy as a pig in the mud on a hot summers day.

Our first stop on the Magic Bus was Greymouth, a sleepy old gold town. We got there pretty late and headed off for a local brewery tour soon after. The tour was followed by a bus mixer, which was pretty fun I must say. Cheap drinks in a town with nothing else to do is always a good time. We headed out early the next morning for glacier country.

One thing that is great about the Magic Bus is the stops that they make along the way. They bring you to a lot of places that are hard to get to or that you may not have even thought to go to. Some are good just to get a cup of coffee or stretch your legs. Yet others are some of the most beautiful places that you have ever seen. Which brings me to a good point...

Why is this post titled "The Wild West Coast"? To be honest, I have no clue. That's what its known as here in New Zealand. Why is it so wild? Well again I know why they call it that, but I had the great fortune of not experiencing it at all. They call it the Wild West Coast because it has some of the most unpredictable weather in the country. My friends that followed me on later buses can vouch for this. But our bus? Nothing but sunshine baby, and I could not have been more thrilled. Even our bus driver said that there was a one in a million shot that we would have clear skies from Nelson to Queenstown in the Winter. But we did. We saw views thought to be unseeable on the west coast. Some of the most picturesque views of the Southern Alps that you can possibly have the fortune of finding. And we saw 'em. I don't know what I did to deserve that weather, but I must have done something right.

But back to the travels. We made a pit stop along the way at a place called Pancake Rocks. Now, I had seen some of these in Raglan, and was less than enthusiastic about wasting my time seeing them again. I'm kicking myself for that attitude these days. These rocks were so much more amazing than the ones in Raglan. The whole area was covered in the things. There is just something so serene about watching the water hit the rocks. Amazing.

After that we headed on to Franz Josef, in the heart of glacier country. Now, there isn't much to do in Franz Josef except hike glaciers. A lot of people skydive in the area too-it is considered by many to be the second coolest place to do it in the world behind some hill called Everest in Nepal. We knew that we had to do a glacier walk. Now there are two choices in glacier country, Fox and Franz. Franz is the more well known glacier, but moved so much (this tends to happen with glaciers) that a big hole formed in the middle of it. All of this to say, you have to heli-hike it these days and we were more interested in hiking right onto the glacier, so we went to Fox (it was also cheaper not to have to use a helicopter). Here is what makes the glaciers so unique and such an attraction. These two glaciers are two of three glaciers in the world, that end in a deciduous climate. Hence, why you can hike on them without freezing your butt off. The hike itself was awesome. We strapped our crampons on and went right up onto the face of the glacier. Ice has a tendency to do some pretty crazy and spectacular things. We climbed through holes, looked down into caves and drank the water. It was all a very unique experience that words really cannot do justice. Look forward to the pictures coming up in the photo blog!

We got a little bored that night, and ended up just kicking it in the hostel-Chateau Franz-and playing some board games. It was here that I got to know two guys that I think are really worth mentioning here. The first was an Englishman named Richard, who went to Australia on a work visa and never went back. Well, he was finally heading home and was stopping in New Zealand along the way. He isn't that significant of a character just yet, but remember the name. The second was a Frenchman by the name of Guilliume (that's a rough spelling guess). He stuck with me all the way to Christchurch, and we really hit it off. Easily the nicest Frenchman that I have ever met, and listening to him pronounce words was always great for a good laugh. The funniest was when he tried to explain "tea-bagging" to me, but that's a story for another time.

Before we headed out of Fox, we stopped at the famous Lake Matheson, or mirror lake. I've never seen anything like it. Maybe it was us getting lucky with the sunshine again, but the Alps reflected perfectly on the lake. It made for some very cool pictures (again, coming soon).

We then headed on to the ski town of Wanaka. Not much to do there but ski, but the mountains are set right behind the lakes, and it made for an awesome sunset.


Well, as you may be able to tell I am getting a bit sleepy and I am sure you are also tired of hearing about my adventures for the night. Have a great end to the week!


Coming Soon: BUNGY, Queenstown, and Central Otago!

Wine Country and a Great Walk

No I'm not back in Hamilton yet. As I write this post, I'm sitting at a hostel (there you go Grandpa) in Christchurch. Tomorrow I will fly to Wellington to watch the All Blacks play Argentina, and Sunday night I will begin my trek back to Hamilton. So we're almost home. And it has been one hell of a wild ride. But first lets rewind a bit....

Two Wednesday's ago, I took my Maori test and hopped on a bus to the Auckland airport to fly down to Wellington. I stayed at Walker's place for the night, and caught the ferry the next day to head across the Cook Strait. It was something I wanted to do, as I had heard that the views are pretty amazing. The weather was perfect, and I crossed over to the south island as the sun set. It was a pretty spectacular ride.

On Friday, I had scheduled to take a wine tour through the world famous Marlborough wine region. I got to hit some of the most famous vineyards (Villa Maria, St. Clair to name a couple), and learned a lot. Although famous for their Sauv Blancs, I found myself enjoying the great Rieslings of the region a lot more. It was a great day, but by the 6th or 7th (of 10) vineyard of the day I was (in all honesty) pretty drunk and could not really do the wines justice anymore. It was a lot of fun though. I had set aside an extra day to hit any vineyards that I missed, but didn't end up needing it.

On Sunday I was off to Nelson, the sunniest area of New Zealand. Thats not saying much. It still rained the whole time that I was there. On Monday I headed to the Abel Tasman National Park to hike for the day and meet up with Walker. Abel Tasman is what is known as a "Great Walk," and a great walk it was. Although the day began looking pretty gloomy and dreary, the weather had really turned by the end of the day. We had a lot of fun hiking through the bush and spending a lot of time on the beach.

Then it was time to hop on the Magic Bus.

To be continued....

PS-I will post a lot of pictures in a separate post at the end, as well as on Facebook. They'll probably be up by the end of the weekend.

Halfway Home

Well not quite, but close enough. I will soon be hitting the halfway point of my journey here in New Zealand and to say it has been a journey would be quite an understatement. I've seen a lot already, but also have a lot more to see. In about 40 hours I will depart on my greatest trek yet; a tour of the South Island, beginning with a two day stop in wine country, and ending with an All Blacks game in Wellington. I expect it to be exhausting, but at the same time I also expect it to be the pinnacle of my journey here.

The last week and a half have been spent here in Hamilton, and I must say that I do not know how the others in my group do it. While traveling has worn me out, Hamilton proved to be a quite boring place if you don't want to milk cows or go to the bars. Granted I would like to go to the bars, but I'm also trying to save money for spring break (wine tours, Queenstown, glacier walks, All Blacks etc.). And while traveling has made the experience more than worth it, I have to admit that being on campus for an extended period of time has made me a bit homesick. The consistently rainy weather doesn't help either; I have been forced inside a lot, which means a lot of sitting on my computer seeing what my friends at home are up to. It bugs me that it's been like this, as I would much rather have my own adventure than live vicariously through my friends at home. In fact, being so connected to home was something that I DIDN'T want to do here. But that's life here in Hamilton, and Ive only been here for a week and a half. New Zealand is a pretty dull place in the winter (as dull as a place this exciting and beautiful can be at least), especially Hamilton, and the locals will admit that. So I think that as winter turns to spring-and it seems to be right around the corner-Hamilton will get at least a little bit more exciting. All in all though, its "sweet as," as they say here, the time off has given me time to recharge my batteries and spend a lot of time in the gym. Needless to say that "spring" break really cannot get here fast enough though.

But maybe this is exactly what I needed. Maybe I needed to struggle through seeing everyone go back so that I could appreciate what I have at Furman a lot more. A greater appreciation of Furman was certainly a goal of this trip. Maybe I needed time away from my usual antics and behavior to recharge, not burn myself out, and reflect on the first half of my time in college. We learn more from losing than winning, we learn more from adversity than we do from normality. In the end, I know that God has a plan for me, and always has. God meant for me to go to New Zealand, he meant for me to come to Hamilton, and he will lead me through the rest of my journey too. 

I know that this post sounds a lot more bleak than my previous ones. But admittedly it has been tougher than expected seeing all of my friends move back into school, and having to watch, bored from the other side of the world.

Halfway through, its tough to be reflective. I don't think that I will really understand the magnitude of this experience until I am on my way home, at home, or back at school.

But if there is one thing that this country has taught me, its that there is a rainbow at the end of every storm.

Ill be back in three weeks, with new stories and plenty to write about. Until then, Kia Ora!

-Wilson

Wellcome to Wellington

Before we begin, I just want to thank you all for your continued support of this blog. I'd be happy if it was just a way for me to remember it all but with over 2,000 page views, Im glad that you guys like it too.

 -Wilson

This weekend's travels brought us to the capital city of New Zealand, Wellington. Now, I had heard a lot about Wellington from friends that had visited and I was really excited about what lay ahead of me. So after getting some work done early (I am clearly no longer in the states), I headed off.

Upon the end of my nine hour journey I was promptly scooped up by Walker and whisked away to a bar for trivia night with his friends. Because there is nothing better than breaking a mental sweat with a few beers after sitting on a bus for nine hours right? None the less, it was a nice end to a long day.

The next day, we woke up before sun rise and hurried up the local mountain (more like a hill but felt like climbing a mountain), Mt. Victoria, for the sunrise. We were a little late, but still got a spectacular view.

We then headed down and caught a bus out to Island Bay (different from the aforementioned Bay of Islands). This began our long trek to the red rocks and fur seal point. We ended up hiking somewhere between 10-13 miles. After having improper water footwear last week at Taupo, I decided to do something about it and went out to get a pair of chacos last week (sorry Drew). They were doing fine until the sand and pebbles started grinding with my feet. I ended up with about 8 blisters for the day but that did not stop me from continuing to climb (with sneakers for the trek back) and check out the stunning views that are becoming the norm of my weekend excursions. The seals were pretty cool too, although they don't really do much besides sleep outside of the water. With that said, they were peaceful enough that you could get to within a body length without scaring them. Here are a few more pictures.

Saturday was consumed by a visit to New Zealand Parliament. It being a Saturday it was pretty quiet, but it was interesting to see the different styles of architecture in the building, as well as all that they have done to help prevent it from crumbling in one of Wellington's famous earthquakes. They also have done a beautiful job preserving the Maori tradition within the buildings. We then walked around a little bit more to check out one of New Zealand's oldest churches. The church actually had major ties to the US as well, and was not afraid to show them. Small world. For the first time in a while, we had beautiful weather as well.

That did not last long and by Sunday the weather had turned. It was pouring when we went to the farmers market, but I had a blast anyways. Walker had to buy all of his produce for the week, but I was just hungry for a good meal. Enter food trucks. Finally, an opportunity to dive into some of the New Zealand food culture that budgeting had eliminated (and at a reasonable price too). I ended up trying a New Zealand mussel fritter (with aoli, a little lemon and cracked pepper divine) and a venison (there are a ton of deer here) sandwich, called a bambi sandwich with carmys and a little cranberry mayo. Awesome. Divine. Excellent. Did I say divine? Just what I was looking for. I was pumped to finally have a crack at some real New Zealand food culture. We then stepped next door to Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand. I can now understand why its considered one of the ten greatest museums in the world. No detail sparred. I headed home later that night.


So things are going well. I turned in my first paper, had my first test (make that two) and have been traveling a ton. I have a week and a half before I depart again (for my biggest journey yet!), but I'm definitely looking forward to a little R&R and homework for a change of pace.

Needless to say I'm definitely not homesick. But a part of me does wish that I was moving back into Furman with all my comrades this week. Can I be two places at once? Its definitely settling in that I won't be at Furman this fall. I have avoided the thought for a while now, but its reached the point of being inevitable. With that said, I have been blessed to have this opportunity and plan to continue making the most of it, knowing full well that I will be refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to return to Furman in full force when I get back. So to all my Furman friends out there, I am thinking of you guys and cant wait to be back second semester. To all of my many friends going abroad in the coming weeks, get ready for the time of your life (I can say that now). And make sure you keep a journal (or blog like this one, Ill give you a follow). Because these are the memories that you will never want to forget (corny I know but true).

And don't stop #tweetinacrossamerica! It makes me feel right at home.

Love you all,

-Wilson

A Weekend of Bathing

My weekend travels brought me to Lake Taupo this weekend, the biggest lake in New Zealand and the lake that separates the geothermally active Rotorua/Taupo region for the Tongariro Mountains (Think Mt. Doom). My traveling companions for the weekend were a few of my globalinks friends; one of whom goes to school with me and two that are studying in Auckland. We headed up to Taupo not really knowing what to expect, but I figured that it would be a little bit less expensive and a bit more relaxing than my previous weekend's trip to the Bay of Islands.

Upon arrival, Jeff, one of the guys from Auckland, had expressed some interest in checking out the hot springs in the area. This had not even crossed my mind, but sounded good to me. So we set out to check out the local hot springs scene. This would end up consuming us for the next couple of days. We ended up renting a car to go check out hotsprings all over Taupo and its outskirts. We even got up before the sun one morning for a little sunrise bath.

Much of the rest of the weekend was spent simply admiring the great Lake Taupo. It has some of the clearest water that I have ever seen, as well as some of the bluest. No wonder it is world famous for the trout that swim in it!

All in all, it was a pretty relaxing weekend. It is really fun getting to travel and see a lot of new places. But it is definitely exhausting too (hence the brief post!). Here are a few more Taupo pictures.

 Huka Falls-Look how blue the water is

 Looking across the lake at the menacing Tongariro Mountains

 Sunrise over the fields-No wonder they call it the Land of the Long White Cloud

Geothermal pond


On another note, I figured that I would let you guys know that I'm not completely out of the loop as far as US news. I just registered for my absentee ballot in fact.

But one issue caught my attention and I think I finally have an opinion on it. Boston needs Chick Fil A. I don't think that Chick Fil A was wrong to say what they said, nor do I believe that Mayor Menino was wrong to fight back. But one thing that I do know is that Chick Fil A needs to come to Boston. And the video of the 2 hour line at the Burlington Mall shows that I'm not alone. This is America, Chick Fil A can say whatever they want to. They may not like the PR results, but that is their decision. You have to respect them for being firm in their beliefs. So somebody get Menino a chicken biscuit. We need Chick Fil A.

The REAL Fun Begins

I think that we have finally reached the fun of the adventure.

My trip to Paihia and Auckland was nothing short of spectacular. Regardless, I was definitely ready to pack up and head home by the end of it. I got back Monday morning and am now making a quick turnaround to head to Taupo, one of New Zealand's biggest lakes, tomorrow. More on that later.

I spent much of last Thursday busing up to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. Firstly, there is a reason that it is called the Bay of Islands. When the British explorers first came to New Zealand, it was the Bay of Islands that they first settled. The treaty of Waitangi, the initial British-Maori peace treaty, was signed in Paihia. They (and it might have even been the famous James Cook) counted the islands in the bay area around Paihia and Russel, and there are 144. So the explorers decided to fittingly call the area, "The Bay of Islands."

Paihia, where we spent our two nights, is a more bustling town then Russel, which is on the other side of the bay, although that really is not saying much. For a comparison, think about visiting Nantucket or the cape in the winter time and you will have a pretty good comparison for our visit to the bay. But that was just fine by Walker and I. Hostile prices were down, and we did not have to worry about tourists everywhere. For the most part, we were able to run the tourist scene.

After throwing our stuff in the hostile, we ran off to try and get a quick hike in before it got dark. We were able to make it up a pretty annoying little hill to a beautiful overlook of the bay.

We then hustled back down to beat the darkness, made some dinner at the hostile, and went to bed. It had been a long day of traveling.

Knowing that we had no set plan for day two, we woke up with the birds and went to seek out our options. Luckily for us the bus for Cape Reinga had not yet departed. So by 730 we were on the bus and headed off on a three hour journey north to the northern most point of New Zealand, where the great Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea. I was really interested in the sand boarding segment of the trip though (don't know sand boarding? Don't worry, we will get to it). Little did I know that I would see so much more.

The trip started off with a journey into the Kaori forest. The Kaori is a giant redwood like tree that is found throughout the South Pacific. It is said that if you hug a Kaori tree, you will be completely cleansed by the next morning. Our quirky bus driver told us that this should be our excuse to go on a bender that evening.

We then headed to the 90 mile beach. Now, normally I would not get that excited about driving a bus down the beach. But what makes this beach unique is that it is so long, without any hint of settlement. You just don't see that anymore with today's demands for prime real estate. In fact 90 mile beach is not actually 90 miles (they believe its really about 64). The best guess as to how it became called 90 mile beach is that when the cattle drivers used to bring their cows from one end to the other, it would take them three days. They figured they were going about 30 miles a day, so they figured it was about 90 miles. I guess in reality they were only going about 21 a day. Regardless, its a pretty spectacular beach, and we even got to drive right up to a seal pup.

As you look away from the water, you see the giant sand dunes behind the beach (see the hills in the way back of that picture? Yea, all sand), which could only mean one thing: it was time to sand board.

Going into the sand boarding, I didn't know what to expect. Well, when we pulled up in front of the dunes it was pretty clear that this was not a sport for wimps. The driver told us that we could be going as fast as forty mph. On a boogie board. Down a sand dune. But I was ready. I had already psyched myself up for this. Perhaps the most daunting task, however, was the climb to the top of the dune. I told Walker that, "now I know how Moses felt." Every time you would take a step up, you would slide half a step down. That's just how tall these monster dunes are. Even this picture does not do it justice.

But oh man was the ride down sweet. I could not believe how fast you could cruise down on those boards. The end result looks something like this (thanks to my great photographer, Walker). And yes, in case you were wondering I did end up with a mouth full of sand after the picture below was taken...

I had a blast but it was Walker that stole the show. He was cruising the fastest and farthest of anybody, including the bus driver. We then loaded up the bus and headed to Cape Reinga.

Cape Reinga is known as one of the more spiritual spots in New Zealand, mostly because its beauty takes most peoples breath away. On our way to the cape, our bus driver told us about this aspect of our next stop. He told us the story of how his son died and how he was not able to get over the tragedy until he came up to Cape Reinga. It is a place where people come to say their final words to lost loved ones and release their burden of grief. It was at that point that I had a realization of my own.

One of the reasons I decided to come to New Zealand was because of the rugby culture. Few places in the world have a rugby culture like New Zealand's. European countries have soccer, Australia has footie; perhaps the only place that can compare is South Africa. But secretly, I wanted to come to this rugby mecca to pay tribute to my high school rugby coach, Iain Ryrie. For those of you who do not know, Coach Ryrie died last year after a battle with cancer. When he passed, I had not just lost a coach, but I had lost a mentor and friend. Now, I don't know if Coach Ryrie ever came to New Zealand, but I'm sure he would have loved it. Not only is rugby so much a part of the culture here, but the arts are as well. He would have loved it. I realized that my trip to Cape Reinga was to honor Coach Ryrie. So as I sat out on the end of the cape, I silently said some final words to my coach and threw some sand into the wind. I finally felt some closure on his passing.

On a lighter note, Cape Reinga has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is pretty cool watching the Tasman Sea meet and collide with the Pacific Ocean, creating a deep turquoise sea. We also happened to have fabulous weather, which is always a bonus in this country.

After leaving Cape Reinga, I think it was pretty safe to say that we were all pretty exhausted. As I am sure that you can tell, we had already done a lot for one day. But the day was still very young. On the way home, we stopped for an early dinner at the Mangonui Fish Market, for some of their world famous fish and chips.

What makes fish and chips here better from anywhere else? Well for one the fish that we were eating at five had been caught that afternoon. It was easily some of the freshest fish I had ever had. Fry it to a crisp golden brown and splash some vinegar and lemon on top (and a Tui on the side), and these fish and chips were damn hard to beat. It was tough to eat on the bus, but they were still delicious. For me, though, the mark of freshness had to be the presentation. Our meal was wrapped in parchment paper, as if we had just gotten some raw fish from the market to prepare ourselves. I love that.

We were back at the hostile by quarter of six, ready to shower up and watch some rugby. It was a big night for rugby, as the Waikato Chiefs (based in Hamilton), were playing the Christchurch Crusaders. The Chiefs were favored, but the Crusaders made a classic out of it. In the end, the Chiefs won 20-17, catapulting themselves into the Super 15's league final this Friday in Hamilton. Unfortunately, I had already planned trips for both weekends so I will be unable to go to either. But I will make it to a rugby game! The amount of parody among the rugby teams here is amazing. I have yet to see a bad game.

After a long Friday, we weren't really sure what Saturday would bring. So we woke up early again, checked out of the hostile, and headed to watch the opening ceremonies. We were also trying to wait out the rainstorm that was looming overhead. After the ceremonies, we had about 5 hours to do something before our bus came to pick us up. That unfortunately meant that we wouldn't be able to do the longer Piahia hike that goes past where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed and heads up to a gorgeous waterfall. Instead we took a ferry across the bay to Russel. Walker and I both agreed that Russel got us a little homesick. It reminded me a lot of Nantucket. Very old, quaint little town, right on the water, with old whaling roots. We walked around a bit, there wasn't too much to do there, before coming across an old French Missionary Museum. There we were able to see how French missionaries were able to print and distribute Maori christian documents throughout New Zealand, in order to convert the Maori. We also stopped by a church that had bullet holes in the side of it from when the Maori had fought there. But more surprising was that in the back of the graveyard was a tombstone for an old Nantucket whaler who had made his way over to New Zealand. Interesting coincidence.

I think we decided that we needed one more day in Piahia. For all my New Zealand friends out there, if you go to the Bay of Islands, make sure you have 2.5-3 days there. 

That night we headed back down to Auckland to meet up with my buddy Mike Baranowsky who was stopping through New Zealand on his way back to the states from a month and a half in Austalia. We went out and did the college boy thing for the evening. We sent Sunday exploring Auckland, heading to the Antarctic Aquarium for a good part of the day, and then watched the Olympics that evening. We were all pretty exhausted.

I headed back to Hamilton Monday morning for three days of classes, followed by a quick turnaround for Taupo. I leave in a few hours.

It certainly is busy over here, and I think I understand the life of a businessman a little bit better now. The traveling life is a lot of fun, but it is exhausting. I think I will appreciate not living in hostiles for four nights a week after this weekend.

Ill talk to you guys after Taupo, have a great weekend!

Wilson

I'm a reader too

Not much going on in Hamilton (I am leaving for Bay of Islands/Auckland on Thursday though!), so I thought I would switch it up and talk about one of my goals for the trip.

During my MayMester course in San Francisco, my professor described somebody as "a reader." Now, what I took this to mean is that reading has become a lost art in today's age of digital media, so those who still read are more likely to be a lot sharper and on top of their mental game. It was at this point that I realized that I am NOT a reader. Now don't get me wrong, I love reading. But there are very few books that are able to grab my attention over such activities as going out with my friends or going to the beach. Overall, I'd say that, for pleasure, I read one, maybe two books a year. But I also realized that my professor is onto something. By reading, I am setting myself up to learn more and be more knowledgeable on a variety of subjects.

Many of you have already heard about my obsession with the Kindle that my Grandfather gave me. For those that haven't, I love this thing. Its light and portable, with all the books you could ever need right at your fingertips. Now I know that it may sound like blasphemy to all my traditional readers out there, and I agree that nothing beats holding a nice paper copy in your hands. But when you are traveling as much as I am/will be, portability wins out. Plus, you don't have to worry about pages flipping back on you, bookmarks etc. Its a great invention.

So without all of the usual distractions, this trip has actually been a great opportunity to become a reader. So, before I left, I downloaded a few books for the trip. They are as follows:

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkein, an old favorite, very New Zealand appropriate
Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power by Rachel Maddow
New Boots in New Zealand: Nine great walks, three islands, and one tramping virgin by Gillian Orrell, also very New Zealand Appropriate
Five Chiefs: A Supreme Court Memoir by Former Justice John Paul Stevens
Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond, a book that I have had on my shelf for years and haven't gotten around to
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Shaq Uncut: My Story by Shaquille O'Neal
Secrets of the Sommeliers: How to Think and Drink like the World's Top Wine Experts by Rajat Parr and Jordan Mackay

Coincidentally, the last three listed there were the first three I read. I had an opinion on each, and thought I might share it with you.

Secrets of the Sommeliers: This book is great for any wine rookie trying to get in the game. Parr and Mackay truly capture the essence of the wine industry with this book and, step by step, walk you through each aspect. From the difference in the varietals to how to properly serve the bottle, no detail is spared. Having Parr, a respected sommelier himself, as a writer only adds to the personality of the book. He adds his stories, as well as those of his friends, mentors and counterparts. He has seen it all, and doesn't hold anything back.

Shaq Uncut: The world must have known that Shaq's autobiography would be as quirky as he is. Although the writing quality is not superb, you feel as if you can hear Shaq telling the stories of his life. I thought I knew a lot about Shaq, but I learned a lot about one of my favorite players of all time from this book. From his childhood in Newark, Georgia, Germany and San Antonio, to his playing days in every city, Shaq does not beat around the bush. I was particularly interested in what he would say about his time with the Celtics and it was evident that he felt he owed Boston, and even Sudbury, more. I respect his honesty. If you are into autobiographies, this is a great read.

Steve Jobs: Biographies are a tricky genre. If you are the first person to write about a really interesting subject, the book will sell, regardless of the writing quality. I was not impressed by the quality of Isaacson's writing in this book. He repeated too many things that did not need to be repeated, and did not repeat some facts that did need to be repeated. I found his writing to be bland and quote heavy. But I could not put the book down. Steve Jobs is just too interesting of a subject. This guy was a nut, throwing fits to get his way and not fearing anyone. But he was an artist as great as Picasso. He made products that may not be powerful, but are beautiful. Something you want to carry around and study, something that you would want to own. My theory is that in order to be a successful CEO (and few are truly successful) you have to be a perfect genius. A 100 on a scale of 0-100. That's why they pay you the big bucks. Jobs had always been close, but it took him a while to be a 100. But I think by the time he died he had exceeded 100. He had done what few, if any CEOs had ever accomplished before. I have always believed that violence and anger is not the way to solve problems, but the strategy has clearly worked for Apple. In fact, not only was Jobs' anger productive, it helped reach goals that many of his employees thought were impossible. In the end, I totally agree with this book being a New York Times best seller, not because of the writing, but because it was a fitting final product to the legacy of a man who turn anything into gold.

I have really enjoyed writing this blog. My thought coming into this project was that I could start a new blog for my everyday life when I am done in New Zealand. I think posts like this are a transition into that. Therefore, expect a few more like this one mixed in to keep it fresh.

Can't wait to tell you guys how Bay of Islands and Auckland go this weekend.

Wilson

Tearing through the bucket list

You know the feeling when something is about amazing as it gets, and then proceeds to get even better? Story of my trip.

Admittedly I do not having a bucket list, although I have been tempted to make one after all the stuff I have done on this trip. Caving with glowworms? Check. Zorbing (I have wanted to do that ever since I saw it on Rocket Power)? Check. Smoke a pipe in the Shire and pretend I'm Gandolf? Well minus the pipe. Interact with a sheep? Check.

How about learning to surf at a surfer's paradise? Check and check.

This weekend's adventure brought me to Raglan, a short hour long bus ride from Hamilton. Ever seen the cult classic The Endless Summer or more recently Last Paradise? Filmed in Raglan. I was contemplating taking a bone carving class, but when I was informed by John Hoag (my resident surfing expert) about Raglan's status among the world's elite surfing destinations, I knew a surfing lesson was not something that I could pass up.

But before we get to that, let's back track for a second.

The day started off as any Saturday morning should; I was tired, groggy and regretting the early morning plans I had made. Nonetheless, I threw down a few pieces of toast and hopped on the bus to Raglan. After winding through the hills and valleys (typical New Zealand drive), we arrived at what appeared to be a jungle, with wild turkey and chicken running everywhere (Sidenote-I swear that this must be the only place in the world where you can go from farmland, that is no different than what you would see in the states mind you, and then walk into a jungle. Or a cave. Or a fjord. etc. etc. etc.). We followed a path into said jungle and soon found ourselves staring down one of nature's beautiful beasts. The Bridal Veil Waterfall is a 55 meter drop that cannot be described by any other word than majestic. But after seeing the top, you would naturally want to see the bottom right? And so, after climbing down 261 stairs, we got to the bottom. Now imagine standing there and looking up at this:  

Pretty daunting. Now the 261 stairs down could only mean one thing and that's 261 stairs back up. Not fun, but in combination with later events, I guess you could say that I got a full body workout in for the day.

After arriving in the quaint town of Raglan, we headed straight for the wharf to take a little harbor cruise. It was a beautiful day to take a boat out. I was even comfortable in shorts, despite the breeze and winter climate. The whole bay is surrounded by limestone that is as old as the country itself (but don't fool yourself, that's only a few hundred thousand years. New Zealand is the youngest country in the world after all!). The bay is also famous for the Orcas and giant white manta rays that live in it. It made for some spectacular views.

But the highlight of the day was definitely the surfing. I had always been skeptical about surfing, it just never seemed like something that would really get me going. In fact, I liked to poke fun at my few friends that do surf. But I decided that if I was going to do it, I was going to do it right. So when John told me that this was the place to do it, I could not say no. Needless to say that I have a lot more respect for surfers now. First off, what could be wrong with going swimming in the ocean in the middle of the winter? Secondly, it's pretty cool to say that I surfed the endless summer beach. Thirdly, what a thrill it is to get up on that board and ride a wave in. I completely underestimated how fast you move on a surf board. They glide across the water. Now, I don't want to give you the wrong impression. I was by no means a natural. But by the end of the day, I had gotten up a few times and that was good enough for me. Shoulders burning, I scuffled back up to the bus and headed home.


On Thursday I will be heading to the Bay of Islands and am looking forward to a visit from Mike Baranowsky next weekend.

Have a great weekend!

The start of school...in July

To start I would like to thank all of you. My trip has just begun and my blog has been viewed almost 1500 times. On a personal level this blog allowed me to do three of my favorite things in one. 1. Keep in touch with friends. 2. Write. 3. Document my thoughts (anybody who follows me on twitter knows how much I love to do that). Anyways, to receive this much support (I have multiple pageviews in 5 different countries) is a blessing that I do not want to overlook. So once again, Thanks!

Not a lot going on since the last post....

On Saturday my buddy Niles and I took a trip to Matamata. Matamata is only an hour away and is home to Hobbiton, the set for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and now The Hobbit. My pictures would probably do it more justice than my words but put simply it was spectacular. Its in the middle of this big sheep farm and is what you would probably envision when you think of New Zealand. Definitely worth checking out. In fact, I would say that even if it wasn't the set for the movie it would be cool to check out. Worth the 66 dollar admission? Probably not. But still really cool how they managed to build a village into the hills. They also said that a lot of non Lord of the Rings fans come just to brag to their Lord of the Rings fan friends that they were there. Now what kind of jerk would do that...

Sunday I went to the church on campus and joined some of the youth members for lunch afterwards. I cant say that the service was what I am used to or a perfect fit for me, but the message was great and so were the people. 

Students are finally back on campus and classes have begun. I think the fact that fall semester has already begun for me despite the fact that it is July is not as weird as I expected. After all, everyone else around me is starting back again too. Regardless, I have had two of my classes and they do not seem to be that bad. In fact, one honestly sounds like a complete joke. Ten percent of my grade is to follow some people on twitter? That will take five minutes tops. Anyways, everything seems to be falling into place for a great semester of adventure.

The first week of classes is known as "O-Week." Now, I know you Furman people will be chuckling at this but this place gives the term a whole new meaning. Every night, the bars and clubs have ridiculous events and specials going on downtown. So basically, its five nights in a row where everybody gets drunk. Now, I did not go out last night, nor do I plan on going out tonight. But I am really looking forward to the end of the week, apparently it gets pretty nuts.

So that's about it for now.

Happy Tuesday!

Wilson

PS-They eat a ridiculous amount of potatoes here. I have a hard time believing that even a place like Ireland eats more potatoes than the Kiwis. Seriously every meal is all starches and carbs. I don't get it. Maybe they need the energy for all the Rugby they play or something.

Photo Blog #1

People say that pictures are worth a thousand words, so I wanted a big part of this blog to include pictures. So without further ado, here are some pictures. Let me know if you have any questions.

-Wilson

Zorbs

First Meat Pie

Hot mud

Hangi

Hobbit Hole

The Shire

Feeding a lamb

Hamiltron

The day of service at the end of our stay in Rotorua ended up being a day of getting our hands dirty and planting some trees-1130 to be exact. Consistent with my thoughts going in, this farm that we worked at did not believe in the American environmental movement because it ostracizes too many people. They see their treebilitation, if you will, as a sociological movement in the area, which allows it to have traction and success unlike many of the American Environmental movements. This isn't meant to be a political blog so I'll leave it at that but feel free to talk to me about it sometime.

After a brief reunion with Walker and a night on the town, it was off to Hamilton.

School was a dead zone when we arrived. Maybe it was my freshly fumigated hall (something about bed bugs and cockroaches?) or the idea of all the foreigners moving in but there was not a kiwi to be found other than the occasional RA. They've slowly started to arrive now but it's still pretty quiet (and boring) around here. Luckily for me I had things to do and people to see.

Much to my surprise, my single dorm is pretty spacious. Plenty of room for a air mattress for my visitors and more than enough room for the small amount of my life that I was able to squeeze into my luggage. I gotta say that it's actually a pretty nice feeling not having enough stuff to fill a room for once-everything seems a lot more spacious and a lot less cluttered. I even hung my Gronk jersey and some pictures up to make it feel more like home. My schedule also came out as planned-no classes on Thursday and Friday should leave plenty of time for travel. The campus has a pita pit on it, less than five minutes away by foot (uh oh...) and also has one of the most gorgeous libraries that I have ever seen. I'm on a co-ed hall with shared bathrooms which is a little weird, but the only girl is my RA and she could probably drink me under the table. Needless to say its not as bad as it first appeared. I'm in building Z (pronounced zed), floor 2. All is well.

Well maybe not ALL...

Much of my time this week has been spent running around the city like a chicken with my head cut off making sure everything was in order. My phone situation was a bit more complex than it should've been (02102924368 if you need me), my insurance/visa was messed up, and I had to apply for a New Zealand drivers license just so I don't have to carry my passport around all the time and risk losing it. But hey, it's a learning experience, that's why I'm here.

I finally finished all that stuff up today (although my Furman email still doesn't work...) so I'm now just waiting for classes to start. I did join the gym, which has taken some getting used to since all the weights are in kgs. So that'll help pass the time. And I did go downtown last night, there are a ton of good restaurants and bars to check out. A bunch of us want to go check out the Lord of the Rings set this weekend so that'll pass the time as well.

So I guess you could say I'm off the side roads and ready to start cruising down the highway.

Have a happy weekend,

Wilson