In the land of Oz...

'Ello mates!

After a long day of travels (including leaving the Auckland hostel at 5 am) I am finally in Australia! We first flew to Sydney then to Cairns, which is in the Northeast corner of the country. From there it was an hourlong drive down twisting roads to get to the Center for Rainforest Studies, my home away from home for the next 7 weeks. We had dinner (I tried crocodile…its tastes like chicken) and then some orientation (like how to not die during the night). Luckily I survived my first night with no scary encounters. Today we had 3 lectures on Australia geography and fauna and toured the sight. Sadly it was overcast so I didn't get a complete feel for the area. Its super mountainous though! And there is a ton more animals here. We have turkeys wandering around our picnic tables and birds all over. And there are bugs!! And spiders!! We even had a mouse run into the common room as I was writing this. I’m not too worried about the animals, but there are some people who have freaked out already. I must admit though that the terrestrial leaches kinda freak me out. Australia is a complete 180 from NZ though. There we had hardly any wildlife other than birds.

We also actually have internet here! It’s not too reliable or fast but at least we don’t have to travel to town to check emails. That is a definite plus in my book.

Along with the staff we had in NZ, there are 3 interns, a site manager, and a cook. The cabins are pretty nice. We have 8 people to a cabin and 4 bathrooms that are a few minutes away. The site is a World Heritage area because of its unique location and ecosystem. It’s only a few hours from the Great Barrier Reef too!

More later after I explore the rainforest more! And pictures?

Also, I am in the process of planning my trip to Sydney in 2 weeks. Let me know if you have any tips or suggestions! :)

Last day in NZ

Kia Ora!

Okay folks. Get ready for a long update.

So the first few days were spent at Kiwanis Huia Camp, which is in the Waitakare forest ranges of the North Island of NZ. We settled in and began exploring the area. Our days usually consist of an early morning, with breakfast usually at 7:30. After that we have a few lectures followed by lunch. The food so far has been pretty amazing. Much better than expected. In the afternoons we typically go into town or a forested area for field lectures. One day we ventured into Auckland and did some more exploring and souvenir shopping. The roads here are ridiculous. They twist and wind up and down through the hills. The cliffs tower over the roads and the drive gives amazing views. I took about a million scenic pictures.

We went to the Auckland Museum and spent a few hours learning about the Maori culture and the history of NZ. We saw a cultural performance by the Maori and saw their traditional clothes, songs, and dances. A few of the students even got up on stage to try poi. Poi are balls on a rope that are spun for dancing and percussion. It looked pretty sweet.

When we were at Kiwanis we spent our free time going on hikes, to the local store, and walking on the beach. We spent a night watching the Flight of the Conchords, and had a cupcake decorating contest. Unfortunately I was not creative enough to win.

After spending 4 days at Kiwanis, when went to a Mauri, which is a meeting place for the Maori. We stayed with the Prime family, who were incredibly generous and nice. The greeted us in the traditional way, by calling us into the building with a welcome song. Kevin Prime, the father of the Prime family then greeted us in Maori and English. All 29 of the students slept in the same room, which got pretty cramped.

Kevin took us into the bush, and we learned about the native trees and animals. We also learned about the methods used to deal with invasive species, particularly the possum. The hike to the bush was hilly and extremely muddy.

One night we had a hungi. A hungi is the traditional cooking style of the Maori. A pit is dug and lined with coals. A pig and vegetables are placed on top of the coals and covered to cook the meat. After dinner my friend Rebecca and I sang and played guitar for the Prime family women.

We also had a talent show to showcase our many talents. The students in our group had talents ranging from singing, to karate, to dancing, to playing the cup game. After the show was done it pretty much turned into a dance party. Epic amounts of fun.

Kevin’s cousin passed away the day before we arrived, so some of us got the opportunity to go to a Maori wake. It was interesting to see how similar it was to a Western wake. We had tea and a light supper after the ceremony, in which a friend Erica mistakenly drank 2 glasses of cream, which she thought was milk. We returned to the Mauri for dinner and stargazing (we could see the milky way! The Mauri was out in the country so the stars were clear and bright. We even saw about 10 shooting stars!).

The Prime family Mauri was not very ornately decorated, but we did get to see a fully carved and painted Mauri. The wood carving was absolutely beautiful. Inside the building was full of photos of the current and past Maori tribe members.

We also went to Waitangi, where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. This treaty established the land use agreement between the Maori and European settlers. We ended up not going into the area where the treaty was actually signed because of a price misquote on tickets. Instead we ended up going to a Maori rally about sovereignty and the treaty. We then explored the city and found faux penguins (they were actually pied shags. Sad day)

After spending time at the Mauri we returned to our home away from home at Kiwanis. We stopped at a native bird recovery center. This was one of the highlights thus far. There we got to see a talking Tui bird, and an injured Giant Petral, and a Harrier hawk. We even got to pet a Kiwi! Back at Kiwanis we had more field lectures, hanging out time, and visited another museum.

We stayed at Kiwanis for 3 more days then headed out to Tiri Tiri Matangi, an island bird sanctuary for the day. There we saw all sorts of native birds and had an AMAZING view of Auckland. After we returned from our ferry ride we were set free in Auckland (which brings us to this weekend).

In Auckland we were finally able to let loose. On Saturday we visited the Auckland Zoo and explored the city. My friend Rebecca and I explored the city, eventually ending up at a vintage clothing/record store. There the unbelievable happened. As I was rummaging through the vintage t-shirts, I happened upon a Wisconsin shirt. It was a vintage Coca-Cola shirt that was from APPLETON WI! I travelled half way around the world just to find a shirt from my hometown. Crazy.

After shopping in town we went to a local pub to watch the All Blacks (NZ) vs Whales rugby match and eat dinner. Then we went out on the town to experience the local bar scene.

From here we head out to Australia bright and early Monday morning. Wish me luck!

Ps. More pics on facebook! check em out!

Auckland NZ

Hello Friends!
I'm writing to you from an internet cafe outside of Auckland NZ. We arrived early Sunday morning after a 12 hour planeride from LAX. It wasn't half as bad as I had expected. I sat next to a native New Zealand man who now resides in Texas and his 5 year old daughter. She was absolutely adorable! She had a southern accent but some of the mannerisms of her Kiwi father.
From the airport we went to the campsite we will be staying at for the next few days. It is in a national park and is really much nicer than I was expecting. We have electricity, running water, and everything!
There are 3 professors living with us, a cook/director, and a "student affairs manager". The professors are very interesting. The geography/ecology professor is named Siggy and of German decent. Botany is taught by Tim, an Aussie, and Environmental policy is taught by Rohan, who is from Tasmania. We had our first classes this morning and got an overview of the next few weeks. Then we ventured to the other part of the Park and had a field excursion to learn about the native plants and animals. So far it is pretty interesting. I'm ready to venture more into the rainforest!
The other students are from all over the country, especially the East Coast and South. It is so weird being with people who don't know about the Badgers!!

That's all I have time for now but more posts (and pictures!) to come soon!

Hello Friends!

As most of you know, I am leaving for Australia and New Zealand in less than 48 hours. Crazy! I am studying abroad to finish my undergrad career through the School for Field Studies, an environmental study abroad organization. The first few weeks will be spent traveling around the North Island of New Zealand, looking at the indigineous culture and their natural resource management techniques. From there I'll head to Queensland, Australia to compare the way they manage natural resources in their rainforest. The second half of the program will focus on tropical rainforest research.

Since I will be traveling around in New Zealand and living in a rainforest in Australia, I will not have the greatest internet access but I'll try to post updates when I can!

Wish me luck!