The End of Some Things

So where was I.... Alice Springs. We got out of dodge as soon as we could, but not before we almost didn't get a taxi to get to the airport to take us away from that godforsaken place. Sheri almost killed us.
The last weekend, I went on a solo venture up to the Sunshine Coast (Noosa) and saw koalas in the wild. I also got some solid beach time and watched The Hurt Locker, which is a fantastic movie.
Now, having just finished presenting my final HTS and LCC presentations, and with only my HTS final exam and LCC final paper before me, the end approaches. Of my long and adventurous journey. Next time, when I am more in the mood, I will give some closing thoughts on my quest. For now, some work to do before I call it a night.

Brizzy Blizzard

So. It has been a while since I have posted. Since Heron Island, I believe. Wow.
Anyways, I have been in and around Brisbane since the golden day of Heron Island.
Brisbane is much more of a livable city than Sydney, which means there is less to do in means of touristy stuff. Some of my favorite parts of Brisbane include: Tea, etc., which I am known to frequent for its bubble tea; the river, which is pretty and has nice walking tracks along it; Queen St. Mall, which is full of restaurants, sometimes street performers, and good people-watching; and Hotel Ibis, where I get delicious breakfast and work a lot.
My weekend expeditions have included:
1) Moreton Island with Matt and Hannah. It was a nice island and the first I saw a "desert." We played in the desert for a while, vainly attempting to board down the dunes, explored the water around the shipwrecks, and battled a plague of mosquitoes before going to a nearby resort, playing pool and doing karaoke. The next day, we went on a hike, and it rained. A lot.
2) Outback with Matt, Sheri, and Jourdan. Oh my goodness. I could write a book about this weekend. We were attempting to backpack for the entire weekend, but we were forced to turn around on Day 1 because of: 1) Heat 2) Trail destroyed by rain 3) Venomous snakes 4) No one else on the trail 5) Biblical plague of flies and mosquitoes (notice a pattern?) 6) Insufficient pace. At least Standley Chasm was nice! We got a ride back to Alice Springs from the nice bloke working at the Chasm. Later that night, I ate emu, croc, camel, and buffalo. Later still, we got stoned by Aboriginals (meaning, they threw rocks at us). Rough racial tensions in that town. Hostel was good. Explored around some museums and stuff the next day, John Butler Trio free concert that night. Solid. Still racial problems. Not solid.
To be continued...

Paradise Lost: An Island and a Cyclone

Well, I have been to Paradise and back. We were scheduled to spend this entire week on Heron Island at the Research Station, which is on the Great Barrier Reef. However, at the beginning of the week, the looming threats of Cyclones Ului and Tomas threatened our departure for Heron Island. Nonetheless, we made the call on Monday to go forward with plans and left late that night for Gladstone, where we would take a ferry out to Heron Island. The ferry ride there was rather choppy (numerous people got sick), but the weather was still gorgeous when we got there. It is such a beautiful place. The island is rather small, consisting solely of the research station, a resort, and a small tract of bush where there are numerous birds (the island is like a rookery). It is surrounded by reef, and the water is of an incredibly blue hue. I will attach some pictures next time. We spent Tuesday walking around the island, getting our snorkeling orientation, and enjoying the delicious food (the caterer who was making food for us was excellent. Best food that we've had all trip!). Unfortunately, late on Tuesday we found out that we would be evacuating the next day before 14m swells made the waters impassable. We were all bummed out, but class got cancelled for the next day, so we enjoyed it as best as we could. I went snorkeling for the first time, and it was fun, but the conditions were not great (low visibility, strong current). After lunch, we took the evacuation ferry back to mainland. It was a beautiful ride, making us long to stay on the reef longer. On the bus trip, we watched movies and worked on our essays due the next morning. I am glad that we got to go for at least 24 hours, for it was a true paradise. I should also mention that we did get to see a lot of nice coral, some turtles, rays, sharks and fish, and that was all really nice. The turtles are in hatching season, so they are especially active.
Now, we are back in Brisbane with no plans for the weekend, so hopefully I can catch up on some sleep and recover further from this illness that has been plaguing me for a while.

Leaving Sydney!

I am about to board a plane to head to Brisbane, leaving Sydney behind with only the memories to sustain me. Sydney was good to me, rather large and cosmopolitan, but still intimate and friendly at times. This morning, I walked from Bondi Beach down to Coogee Beach and got some magnificent views of the coastline. Yesterday, we took a trip up to the Blue Mountains, seeing the Three Sisters (a famous rock formation) and hiking down into the valley. We saw some splendid waterfalls and a lyrebird! On Wednesday, Tiffany, Christina, and I did the BridgeClimb of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was expensive, but such a great experience! I will post pictures next time to show some of the views. We did it at nighttime, so that was a real treat. My slight fear of heights did not inhibit my climbing success at all either!
On Tuesday, we went to the Powerhouse Museum and saw some good exhibits on women's housework in Australia, nuclear energy, and the 80s (a potpourri of subject matter). Later that night, I saw Avatar in IMAX 3D! It was a gorgeously made movie, and I enjoyed the metaphors contained within superbly. On Monday, we went to the Quarantine Station up by Manly, and that was a very fun and informative trip.
Sydney, you were good to me. Will I ever see you again? I do not know.

Roos!

Today was a very good day. As was yesterday. Yesterday, I went deep sea fishing for the first time in my life. We had to get up at 5 since we were leaving at 6. We (there were 14 of us on the Kingfisher, our boat) got to witness an excellent sunrise, and the ride out to the ocean was pleasant. Once we got out to the ocean, we were met by 4 to 6 foot swells. Needless to say, many got sick, and had I not taken Dramamine equivalent that morning, I would have, too (I still didn't feel too hot). We were catching them like crazy out sea. In total that day, I caught 7 fish: a scorpionfish (it was gorgeous), a couple of "sargeant bakers," some snappers, and a flathead. After a number of seasick cases, we moved back into Sydney Harbor to keep fishing. While the fishing was not as prolific, it was still good. About one o'clock, we headed back to shore. I then met up with Gianluca, an Italian work friend of my dad's, and we walked around the campus of the University of Sydney. It was a splendid time. Later that night, we watched the Prestige, and I don't remember much of else of what happened other than going to bed early.
Today, Charity, Steven, Katherine, Allison, and I drove up to the Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains. It was a beautiful drive and a nice respite from Sydney's cityness. The four of them went abseiling while I just explored the River Cave. I saw some phenomenal crystal formations and other cavey stuff. Then, we went exploring a little bit, and found some echidnas and kangaroos in the wild. They were breathtaking and I was feeling very much in my element. We then caught some dinner (1/2 BBQ chicken for me, fresh and local) at Friar's Tucker before going to Wentworth to see the waterfall and the sunset. It was simply gorgeous with great vistas. Unfortunately, I rolled my ankle, but that is no big deal. I am ready for a nice Sunday and a good last week in Sydney.

Shades and Hues

Time is flying by. I cannot believe that it is March already. Sydney is a very interesting city, full of interesting experiences. To recount some of my adventures, I will start with today and move backwards:

Today, we went on a field trip to the Royal Botanic Gardens. Later, I went with some of my friends and met up with my friend Haylie (who lives in Sydney) to Bondi Beach, where we chilled, took pictures, and had a delicious dinner that included mussels and calamari.

Yesterday, I went to the Apple store to try to get my computer fixed (I have an appointment now... for next week). I redeemed my lottery ticket (won $10!) and then went to this phenomenal exhibit at the Museum for Contemporary Art done by Olafur Eliasson. It focused around the theme of light largely and incorporated natural elements. It was brilliantly done and a true joy to experience.

Monday, we went on a field trip to a medical museum for class. It was super rainy, so I got a lot of work done and chilled.

Sunday, I went to Hillsong Church with my friend Nathan. Also took care of some errands with TIffany and got work done.

Before that, it gets fuzzy. But I did win a lottery to get front row tickets to Wicked (which is in Aussie) for only $30! It was incredible to experience the show from the front row. Also, went to Manly Beach one day for surfing and bushwalking in Sydney Harbor National Park.

A lot going on. Time flying. Loving. Yes.

Sun and Sand

Yes, I could get used to this.

Yesterday, I went to Manly Beach, a favorite spot in Sydney on the ocean. It was beautiful weather: 90, a light breeze, and sunny. We had to take a ferry to get out there, and the boat ride was rather nice to be sure. Afterwards, I went to Hillsong Church for the night service. They have such good community! I got to meet up with my friend Haylie who is going to school in Sydney, and we went out to dinner afterwards. This morning, I had my first class for Science, Technology, and the Modern World, and I think that it is going to be a really interesting class. Might go to Bondi Beach this afternoon and read and whatnot. Oh yeah. This is the life.

Grace

The Land of Oz

I have arrived in Australia! Today, I am embarking on my second day of exploration around Sydney. It is a large city, but beautiful and cosmopolitan. It is rather warm here; around 90F yesterday, I believe. Our living accommodations are a little crowded (I am in a triple room), but I certainly cannot complain. This is going to be a completely different experience from New Zealand, I can tell. There is a lot going on and this city never sleeps. Yesterday, we walked out to Paddington (a suburb) to go to a market and explore their Centennial Park. In the afternoon, we walked to the harbor to see the bridge, opera house, and Circular Quay. It was gorgeous! Numerous weddings going on, and people out the wazoo. Sydney has more people than all of New Zealand, ftr. Now, armed with map in hand and water bottle in tow, I head out again into the Land Down Under.

Cheers,

Tomas

Some pictures of the Sevens Madness.

The Land of Oz Approaches

Update time! We are leaving New Zealand in two days for Australia. I am sad to be leaving, for this truly is a beautiful country. If only I had a lifetime...
I am two weekends behind, so I will now proceed to talk about the last couple of weeks. Two weekends ago was Sevens Weekend! Sevens is a international 7v7 rugby tournament that was taking place in Wellington. Oh my goodness, what a spectacle. On Thursday after class, a bunch of us went down to watch the rugby teams parade throughout the city. It was a beautiful day in the city, and we walked along the waterfront after. On Friday, my friend Jay and I got tickets to the tournament off of an online auction site and made the pub crawl on the way to the stadium. For Sevens, everybody dresses up like crazy. It is Halloween meets Mardi Gras. Saw the Mario Bros., Sesame Street, Avatar, Dragonball Z, animals of all sorts... a little bit of everything. At the first major bar, we ran into a forty member lion pride that turned the place into a madhouse. As I am not a party type, I was a bit out of my comfort zone, but it was quite a spectacle to observe. On the waterfront, Jay managed to drop his sunglasses into the harbor while trying to help someone else get their sunglasses, so he dived in after to retrieve them although he was in no state to do so. He was unsuccessful but managed to cut open his toe in the process. Yep, it was a bit of a fiasco. Luckily, some old Kiwi's Band-Aid and my Neosporin patched him up pretty nicely. We then proceeded to the stadium and somehow met up with all of the Georgia Tech crowd (how does that happen so easily!?). I supremely enjoyed watching rugby that day. 7v7 is a fast game to be sure. I correctly predicted that Fiji would end up winning the tournament, for they were playing really well. After, we returned to Weir House, and I think I watched a movie that night.
On Saturday, Hannah and I and some other people went to a farmer's market and a crafts market. I found some good deals and some good food, so it was successful. Once again, we found other GTers and proceeded to Waitangi Day, a day commemorating the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. It was very interesting and we were able to witness some Maori culture. Afterwards, we went to OneLove, a reggae/dub music festival. It was fun and chill; I especially enjoyed one of the NZ folk musicians. Upon returning, we prepared to go out that town (in toga regalia) and had a splendid time together. I returned early, as is my wont to do, and caught up on a little sleep.
On Sunday, I went on my vision quest, which means that I went on a solo hike/walk on the Northern Walkway across a valley north of Wellington. It was gorgeous and relaxing, some much needed introverted time. I hiked over Tinaroki Hill and through some gorge up to Mt. Kau Kau. Upon returning, I went to Arise Church with Nathan, and it was a very good service. After, we got some Balti food for dinner, and I probably worked that night.
The following week passed in a blur of field trips! (Or maybe it was the week before). Anyways, we went to a marine reserve, the US embassy, and a Marae exhibition of sorts (a Maori ceremony of greeting). They were all interesting. We got to play in the tide pools, meet the US ambassador, and hear some whakapapa (a Maori term for the story of a person or thing's heritage). School was really interesting, too. My classes, as previously mentioned, are really applicable to my future. I just presented my final presentation for INTA4040 on the interaction between poverty and the environment. In ethics, we discussed obduracy and had a lively conversation about corruption last week.
So, last weekend now. We took our day off (we were allotted one missed day of school), so it was a Thursday through Monday trip. I was the main planner, so I was busy in the days leading up handling logistics and whatnot. It was a true South Island tour de force. We hit Christchurch first (the garden city with good nightlife), and enjoyed its galleries, museums, and, of course, gardens. We then proceeded to Arthur's Pass, where we hiked up to a nice waterfall. Then, to the West Coast, which was gorgeous up and down. I am now going to stop this post for now due to my increasingly trite commentary, so that I can do justice to Fiorland National Park and the other wonders of last weekend. To be continued...later or tomorrow hopefully.
Grace,
Tomas

It's Been a While

And it may have to be awhile before I update. I am incredibly busy with adventures, school, and life in the next couple of days. Update soon, with pictures. Promise.

There and Back Again

Wow! In all of the rush and craziness, I have neglected to update this blog over the past two weeks. Now, to update you on my comings and goings.
I am continuing to have a blast over here in New Zealand. Seriously, it has been one of the best experiences of my life for many reasons. I love the country and the people and the place. From an environmental perspective, it is a fantastic place to be, for a significant percentage of New Zealand is conserved or protected land. My classes have been extremely interesting as well; in ethics, we have been transitioning into talking about actual environmental ethics (moving to a biocentric mindset), and we have been reading/discussing through the history of the movement. We are tackling Aldo Leopold's quintessential Sand County Almanac today, which is a fantastic read for anyone that has not read it before. This has caused me to think a lot about my future career path within the environmental sector. Last summer, my internship dealt with appropriate technologies, and I am hoping to continue pursuing that field as well. I have been thinking of marrying these ideas with tackling homelessness and using appropriate technologies to benefit homeless people and bring them into a better relationship with the environment. How to do that? Well, I have some ideas, but I still have more time to let this seed germinate. In my other class, Environmental Politics, I am doing a paper analyzing the relationship between land degradation and poverty, so that should provide me with some good insight. In that class, we are also looking at international relations (IR) theory and thinking/talking about global cooperation, which is something important to consider.
In other news, I have been traveling a lot! The weekend before last, we traversed the North Island a good bit. We drove up SH 1, 3, and 4 to reach Te Kuiti, the location of our first hostel. The drive was gorgeous; we took this one windy valley road that was a real peach to drive. Sunsets seem to always be spectacular in New Zealand, and the one we witnessed from the road was no exception. On the first day, we went on a glowworm caves tour! We rappelled down into a cave, and "black water rafted" (tubed) through these underground caves that have these bioluminescent worms. It was a spectacular sight to see, like nothing that I have ever seen before. The rest of the day was pretty chill; everyone was tired, but the three guys went and did some amateur "caving" and drove around the area. We made significant communal meals that day (there were 9 of us) and called it a night.
On Saturday, we went in and around Rotorua. We went to some hot springs, a geothermal park, and a Maori cultural show and dinner. The dinner was a fantastic buffet! It was a real treat after so many simple meals and PB&J sandwiches. The show and hot springs were fun, so it was overall another fantastic day. Upon arriving at our second hostel, we encountered some Kiwi Karate Punks, and I had a little talk with them about R-E-S-P-E-C-T. But they were cool.
On Sunday, Google Maps failed us. We had Google Maps'ed all of our weekend locations, but it was off on the canoeing outfitter by about 30 km. Therefore, we were late and they left without us. After some negotiations and waiting, they reappeared and took us out in kayaks. It was gorgeous kayaking on the Whanganui River. We did a four hour paddle and loved every minute of it. After we reached the pullout point, we had a little extra time, so I decided to explore. Here is when I made my poorest decision of 2010 so far. I decided to go down some rapids and try to paddle back upstream. Did not happen. I was out of strength, and I flipped out of my kayak and was taken under. Scariest moment of 2010 so far for sure. I do not like the thought of drowning. However, I managed to get to shore after a while and bushwacked back through the forest to let my companions know that I had not died. A jetboat was luckily there to retrieve the kayak, but overall it was an embarrassing and humbling experience.
We drove back afterwards and got back in Wellington at 12:30am.
I am not sure I remember too much about that week at this point, other than I went to Te Papa again (The NZ Smithsonian), we went to this cool "roots" concert, and we all went out dancing one night. It was a good week, but passed quickly, as we left again Thursday morning.
As a program, we went up to Taupo this past weekend. It is situated on Lake Taupo, which is a gigantic caldera. We saw many rocks and much volcanic activity, as was the objective of this "eduational" field trip. Two other activities that we did are of recognizable import. On Friday, we hiked the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which is purportedly the nicest day hike in the entire world. And it was. There's Red Crater, the Emerald Lakes, nine ecosystems, Mt. Ngaruhoe (Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings!), and much more. Hopefully, I can find some pictures to post next time, which reminds me. My camera went into a coma when I fell out of my kayak that prior weeekend, but it has been slowly recovering. Hopefully, it will be fully resuscitated this week. The other cool thing I did was skydiving! It was an incredible experience, falling through clouds and seeing the world up there. I tandem jumped with Albert, this German who holds some record for skydiving in the world. It was so much fun, and I got to do it with really good friends, so I loved it.
We returned yesterday, and I was able to go to church for the first time since I've been in NZ! It was beautiful, and I am going to a Bible study this Wednesday. I ate some Baltistani food for dinner (anyone read Three Cups of Tea?), and ended with some Lord of the Rings with friends. Now, it is raining and Wellington is gross, but my spirits soar high.

Off Again!

Wow, another week of classes has come and gone! I am off on a tour of the North Island this weekend, which will include some caving, canoeing, and hot springs. Major update when I get back!

Queen Charlotte Track

What an adventure! This past weekend, three of my friends from the Pacific Program and I hiked the Queen Charlotte Track (71 km) in 3 days! It was rather arduous, but totally worth it; the vegetation and views were gorgeous. I nearly missed my ferry, but a local Kiwi kindly gave me a ride to the ferry terminal in the nick of time. We stayed at a hostel the first night, and then proceeded to water-taxi out to the start of the track the following morning. The hiking was all over the place; occasionally flat, often hilly, but always beautiful. It was a great experience to have and a great way to experience New Zealand. The track basically follows a ridgeline between sounds and around bays, so we got a lot of sweet vistas of the surrounding hills and water. Luckily, I did not run out of food or water. Camping, like always, was a fun and interesting venture; my tent that I took to Guatemala held up just fine, and I slept reasonably well. The weather was great; perfect temperature (except a little cold at nights). Great company, too! Matt, Charity, and Sheri made for excellent fellow backpackers and I enjoyed getting to know each of them better. Getting back was rough; we were all exhausted from the weekend and had to do a presentation for the following morning. We all made it through, though, and I think that I earned a well-deserved nap.

Off to the South Island

Finished my first week of classes! Have some readings and a presentation to do, but that will have to wait. We are off on the ferry to the South Island to hike the Queen Charlotte Track. More pictures and stories to come about this weekend and I return! I hope that all of you have a weekend full of grace and wonder.
tomas

Settling In

Current location: Wellington, New Zealand. What a beautiful city! But before I get to that, I will start at the beginning...
I left the good ole United States on January 7th. En route, I stopped in Salt Lake City to meet up with Jonathan before he goes off on his mission to Brazil for two years. It was a splendid visit: I got to see Jonathan, snow, and eat at Carl's Jr. Then, I flew to LAX before going onto Auckland. I had the distinct pleasure of sitting next to a certain Steph, an Australian who was at the Passion Conference in Atlanta that I had been at in the week preceding my departure. Needless to say, we hit it off a while and had some great conversation. She gave me some good advice about NZ and AU (as I will henceforth refer to New Zealand and Australia for brevity's sake), and I may go visit her and her fiance in Melbourne when I head to Sydney later on. Anyways, we arrived in Auckland at 5:30 am on January 9th NZ time. NZ is very concerned with what comes into the country, so we had to go through "biosecurity," and my tent was tested in a lab for foreign contamination. I cleared, and we then boarded a flight to Wellington at 8:30. I sat next to a rather large Samoan man and inquired after his condition. He had quite the accent.
At this point, I was still feeling pretty okay, having slept a couple hours on the way across the ocean. We bussed up to Victoria University (which is where we are staying; I will refer to it as VUW), specifically Weir House, where our dorms are. It is up on a hill located next to a park and just below the Wellington Botanical Gardens. There are some beautiful vistas nearby, and I will post pictures soon. Most of the first day or two consisted of settling in and acclimating to our locale. It is a gorgeous city; a lot of green space and very safe. We managed to locate a restaurant for lunch the first day, and the owner engaged us in some classic NZ hospitality. So far, I have walked down to the coast, over to a beach, and to "The Warehouse," which is the closest that they have to a Walmart (I only bought chocolate milk there). We then had some orientations about VUW and Wellington. I went to sleep early those first days.
Class! I forgot that I have class on this seemingly carefree vacation. I have two classes while I am in NZ and two when I am in AU. I am taking PST 4176 Environmental Ethics and INTA 4040 Environmental Politics. Both are exceedingly interesting, and I like my professors very much. It is causing me to think a lot; being an engineering major, I have been used to math and science for a while, and now I am shifting back into reading and writing (scary!). We are focusing a lot on climate change and other global issues and policy making, so it will be extremely applicable for my field. I have class from 8 to 11:15 every morning, so then I have the full afternoon ahead of me. So far, I have used it to either do my work, leaving the evenings free, or gone exploring on pretty days.
Weather. It is much warmer than GA, but not too hot! It has ranged from 55 to 75, depending on whether it has rained and how much. I've been wearing my jacket a bit, but it is still rather pleasant.
Food: we have a meal plan at VUW from Monday through Thursday. The head chef is Indian, so we have had a lot of fried rice and curries, but it is all mostly good, except for the desserts, which have been rather disappointing aside from the chocolate cake last night.
I am looking for somewhere to volunteer perhaps while I am in Wellington. I passed by a Compassion House & Soup Kitchen the other day, so I might go explore that soon.
I think that is enough for now. That brings us up to speed, and I will record some of my more specific observations in the posts to come.
Cheers,
Tomas

Arrived in New Zealand!