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