Saying Goodbye to New Zealand - Mt. Oxford

Hey All,

It's been a while since my last post, and for that I apologize. I've been busy with the end of the semester and exams, and the winter season had brought a lot of bad weather that has prevented me from getting out into the great NZ outdoors. Being on campus so much this past month has allowed me to spend a lot of time with the friends that I have made here, and it has been a lot of fun. This may be to my detriment, however, as it will make leaving my friends all the more difficult, and will make my homecoming somewhat bittersweet. To be honest, I don't think leaving New Zealand will be that hard - just leaving my friends will be difficult (who are all North Americans coincidentally). I'm ready to come home and feel very much done with NZ this time round. I've enjoyed my time and there are still a few things I wish I could have done, but now I have an excuse to come back here someday...

Exams went well and my classes were pretty satisfying and rewarding overall. I was disappointed by viticulture somewhat, but you can't win them all I guess. Anyway, having been done with exams for almost a week now, I've been able to do some souvenir shopping and some relaxing with friends. I've also been able to support the Celtics and enjoy my last few NZ beers - keep your fingers crossed for Game 7!

Today, I took my last hike in NZ. My friend Sam and I headed up to Mt. Oxford, which is a small mountain in the eastern foothills of the Southern Alps. To the west are some spectacular peaks, and Oxford provided some great views of them. Being so late in the season here, the alps were all covered in snow, and Oxford had about 4 inches of snow before we stopped for lunch. We were without crampons or snowshoes, so we decided against making the final push to the summit, where the snow was much deeper. It still made for a great day hike, and I think rounded out my NZ outdoors experience pretty well - I had yet to see the mountains all covered in snow (except for the highest peaks of course), and it made the landscape even more magnificent. I hope you enjoy the pictures:

Mt. Oxford

I leave in less than 3 days, and its amazing that I've been here for four months already. I think I've learned a lot in this time; about people, about soil science, about New Zealand, and most about myself. I'm looking forward to coming home, and I can only hope America is looking forward to having me back....

Thanks for following me all this time,
-James

Moeraki Boulders

On the way back from Merrall's, I stopped at the Moeraki Boulders Scenic Reserve. Large, almost perfectly spherical boulders rest on a small stretch of seashore and they were quite the site. I've read that they "were formed on the sea bed 60 million years ago as lime salts gradually accumulated around a hard core." I don't know if I buy that explanation, but I have no better ideas of my own. I wonder how they explain the quartz veins in some of them?

Anyway, it was a really cool side-trip. Check out the photos:

Moeraki Boulders

Weekend at the MacNeille's

Hey everyone!

My trip southward to Port Chalmers and Dunedin was a huge success! I spent the weekend at the house of Merrall MacNeille, who is a cousin of my Williams College Professor and friend, Sheafe Satterthwaite. Merrall is originally from Baltimore, but he left for New Zealand in 2001 and has lived there since. He has a very small dairy operation, and he sells his milk raw (that is, unprocessed/unpasteurized) to customers that come straight to the farm to get it. He also makes his own cheeses and yogurt, and sells beef when from time to time. Currently, he is only milking six of his Jerseys, as its been a very dry year and he has decided to let the other cows rest for the remainder of the season. At the house, I had homemade sausage from his own bull, homemade butter (from his own milk of course), and I got to drink raw/full-cream milk, which is delicious.

Merrall's other business is timber-framing, both the design and building aspects, and we spent a good amount of time discussing that art, as it is something in which I am interested. His daughter and son-in-law built a timber-framed house on the same property. The walls are constructed of mud-bricks and cob, which they made themselves out of the clay-rich soil on the property. It's a beautifully constructed home, and when you see the surrounding area you'll immediately be impressed; They live on a hill that overlooks the bay and the pacific ocean. It's unbelievable, you have to see the pictures.

Weekend at the MacNeille's

I spent a good deal of the weekend just relaxing and reading, but I did go on a short trip with Merrall to Sandfly beach, which may possibly be the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. Sadly, I forgot to bring my camera on that little trip, but maybe it's better that way; I don't think a picture could capture it's full grandeur. Sunday was more of the same, but I went and did some work with Merrall's son-in-law, Man, for a few hours. Man is originally from Nepal, and he met Cecil (Merrall's daughter) when she was traveling in Nepal about 10 years ago. Man and I had a good time when we were working, and then we came home and had dinner with Cecil, their two young children and Man's mother. We ate traditional Nepalese food in the traditional way - sitting cross-legged on the floor around a dinner blanket with the food dishes laid out in front of us. The food was AMAZING, and I was sure to eat my fill; I'm used to eating bland dining hall food all the time. The dinner was a really nice way to experience other cultural traditions and see how easily one can become a part of it - Cecil, Man, and the children spoke both English and Nepalese and they were such a fun family.

After dinner, I headed back to Merrall's house and did a little bit more reading before bed. I headed back to Lincoln at about 8:30 on Monday morning. Along the way, I stopped at the Moeraki Boulders - more on that shortly.

Schoolwork, Harvest, and Untimely Weather

Hey all,

The last few weeks have been fun, but I haven't been able to do too much hiking because of the increasing workload and bad weather. For the most part, I've been on campus hanging out with my friends here and spending time doing schoolwork - it seems like I had no work the first half of the semester and now I have quite a bit. I did manage to get out this past Saturday for a nice day hike in Lewis Pass National Park.

Today I harvested my grapes! We had to weigh the clusters from each individual vine so that the university can get yield data for each grapevine, so it took about 3.5hours. It was a lot of fun though, and the weather cooperated nicely (a perfect fall day). I must have eaten a couple pounds of grapes throughout the harvest, because they were so tasty. After all, no one at Lincoln is making wine out of our Chardonnay grapes this year, because this season wasn't kind to Chardonnay and the grapes took too long to ripen. I've got a friend in the wine science class, however, who took my grapes and is planning to make some sort of wine/mead mixture out of many different grape varieties and honey. It will probably taste awful, but it will be fun to drink some sort of beverage that I had a hand in creating.

This weekend I'm going to visit Mr. Merrall Macneille, a cousin of S. Satterthwaite, one of my Williams professors. Mr. Macneille owns a small dairy herd (Jerseys), and makes his own cheese and yoghurt, and also does some timber framing. Hopefully I'll learn a bit about his operation. I'm also looking forward to spending a bit of time with a family and get a home cooked meal. Maybe I'll do some work for him around the property if he needs it.

Hope all is well back home. I miss it! Have a great weekend.
-James

Soil Science Tour

The tour for my SOSC342-Soil Resources class was much more hands on than the Viticulture tour. It was four days instead of 2.5, and it was a much smaller group (12 students, 2 professors). It was a great time and a great academic experience.

Setting: We were on an intensive cropping farm (mainly grasses for seed) in Ashburton. The farmer uses variable rate irrigators, and is known in Canterbury as an innovator and leader in responsible water usage.

The Project: Electromagnetic (EM) mapping had been done on a number of fields on the property. The map data was acquired by dragging an EM device behind a four-wheeler as it drives back and forth across the entire field. The map had been made a few months before our arrival, so we had no role in the actual collecting of EM data.
EM measures the conductivity of the soil, so it is thought to be a proxy of total water holding capacity (WHC). Our job was to select certain sites in which to dig soil pits, describe those soils, and sample them for further work back in the lab. With the samples (lab work we will do in the coming weeks), we are to determine the Available Water capacity (AWC) and see if that correlates with EM as well. AWC is different from WHC in that it only measures the water that plants can access. Some water is held too tightly in the soil by clays and micropores, creating negative pressure (suction) on that water which plants roots cannot overcome.

What we did: The first two days were spent augering in various areas, some at random spots and some along determined transects. By doing this, we could get a rough estimate of the soil patterns in the area, and make early comparisons of EM data to things like soil type, texture, and depth to gravels. Two members from the government research institute LandCare were working with us, and it was great to learn field techniques from the experts. Using what we learned from the augering, we could determine where we wanted to dig soil pits.
The last two days were spent digging full soil pits. We split up into groups and got a lot of digging done. The ground was really hard in some places and required some heavy pick work. All pits were about 80-90cm deep on average, and probably about a square meter horizontally. Digging a good pit is an art, and requires the building of steps, a lot of cleaning up of surfaces, and careful calculation of the sun's movement in the sky; You needed to dig your pit so that when you finished it and were ready to desribe/photograph it, the sun would be directly facing the description face, eliminating any shadow. To do that well, you had to accurately guess how long it would take you to dig the pit.
Doing a pit description takes just as long as digging the actual pit. You have to categorize the horizons, note their depth, and then do tests for color, texture, strength, and structure. After that, undisturbed samples had to be taken in little metal cores from each horizon, which is a lot more labor-intensive than you think. By the end of the trip, our class had dug, fully described, and sampled 7 full pits. It was a lot of work, and a lot of good experience.

What Now?: Our whole class is going to be processing this data into a single group project. So, for the next month we will have very few lectures and be concentrating mainly on research, labwork, data analysis, and mapping for this project. I've never done a group project where the whole class is the only group. I think it will prove to be great experience for my studies in the future, especially next year's thesis.

Here are some pictures: I would have liked to take more, but we were pretty busy the whole time and I often had wet soil on my hands.

Soil Resources Tour

Field Tours During the Easter Break: Viticulture

I had two compulsory field tours over the Easter Break, one for Viticulture and one for Soil Resources.

For the Viticulture tour, our rather large class (greater than 50) met in Blenheim, which is in the New Zealand's Marlborough region. Not surprisingly, Marlborough is famous for its vineyards, so we spent 2.5 days traveling to vineyards and wineries of various scales (maybe 10 total?), speaking with owners, viticulturists, winemakers, gov't sciencists and marketers. One thing I realized more fully is that being successful in the wine industry requires a lot more than good grapes and quality wine. Success is largely due to market considerations, and people can do well even with lower quality wares. Right now, it's hard to make a lot of money with Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay because the market is flooded with it, so the more successful wineries are making money with their Riesling, Pinot Noir, rares, blends and low-alcohol varieties.

The biggest operations were less interesting to me, because the owners seemed all about profit and all about recognition. The smaller vineyards were much more enjoyable - The owners were so passionate about their jobs and just loved a really good glass of wine. They stepped out of the box, tried different things, and didn't seem so preoccupied with the market or strengthening their egos. I thought it funny that we did most of our tasting at the smaller vineyards, and the larger ones seemed less interested in us. I should have taken more pictures, but here are a few:

Viticulture Tour

And if any of you are in a restaurant and you see the "Staete Landt" (think state-land - it's Danish) label, go for one of those, because they were the most delicious wines, and they're made by the most passionate, down-to-earth bunch that we met. "Forrest" is good too, but it carries a huge ego with it.

Mt. Fishtail

Hey all,
I should start by apologizing for leaving y'all in the dark for so long. I was on break for the past 16 days, so that is why I had not posted in so long. I trust that the photos form Kahurangi NP will make up for it. Hopefully this entry will satisfy as well.

About a week after Kahurangi (the time in between I was in Blenheim for a Viticulture multi-day field trip - more on that later), I headed up to Mt. Richmond Forest Park with my friend Nick for a two day, two night excursion. The goal was to summit Mt. Fishtail. On Friday 9 April we camped out at the Mt. Fishtail trailhead. It got really cold down in the valley and we woke up to find frost on the ground. It warmed up quite a bit as the day went on however, and made for great hiking. After about an hour of gentle sloping trails through lush forest (which had giant fern trees - see photos), the track turned steeply uphill, and was unmercifully steep for the next 2.5 hours. We then reached a ridge, and had an easy half hour hike to Fishtail Hut. The hut was a tiny little building with four bunks and a small counter space. It was tied down on all four sides by metal cables, because it was situated right on the edge of a steep and unstable scree slope, which is probably exposed to high winds throughout the year. For us, however, the wind was low and the sun was high. After a short lunch break at the hut, Nick and I continued the last hour to the summit. It offered some really great views. We spent the night at the hut, and then hiked down at a quick pace, heading back to Christchurch later that day (Sunday). It was a very successful trip. See the pictures here:

Mt. Fishtail

Easter Break Travel Part 1: Kahurangi NP & Kaiteriteri Beach

To start the Easter Break I headed northwest with my friends Nick and Katie. We were headed to Kahurangi National Park, New Zealand’s newest and largest national park. Kahurangi is about 7 hours drive from Lincoln, so we decided to split it into two days. The first night we stayed at a small roadside campground. The next day we continued north and took a side trip to the beautiful Kaiteriteri Beach just north of the seaside town of Motueka. We were graced with sunny skies and relatively warm temperatures. Later that night we headed to Kahurangi and camped out beside the trailhead. The sun set around 7pm, and we had nothing to do for the night. At that point, Katie pulled out a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings,” which she had started reading a few weeks before. We took turns reading passages out loud to each other, and it was a lot of fun. (At this point, you may be rolling your eyes at me and calling me a huge nerd, which may be partially true, BUT it was really entertaining and we had few options). Thanks to Tolkien’s interesting story-telling, we had something to do for the other nights of the trip as well.

Kaiteriteri Beach

We started the three-day trek at about 10am on Saturday April 3^rd, leaving the car and thoughts of school behind us. The first day was a 6.5 hour trek along Cobb ridge, passing through scrubland, grassland, and patches of forest. The tramping took us across the “Tablelands” - a plateau composed of ancient seabed that has since been uplifted to a height of nearly 1000m above sea level. We found some interesting limestone outcrops and caves along the route. We spent the night at Salisbury Lodge, a 22-bunk hut at the southern edge of the plateau.

Kahurangi National Park - Day 1

Day 2 was a long day with constant changes in elevation. We first climbed off of the plateau and into the nearby valley, only to summit the grassy Gordon’s Pyramid. From the top, we could see Mt. Arthur, which we would summit later in the day. A partial descent down the backside of Gordon’s Pyramid brought us to a ridge, and then we steeply climbed through an incredible field of stone outcrops and sinkholes. Once atop the ridge, we dropped our packs and headed an hour further to the summit of Mt. Arthur, which was veiled in mist and fog. Visibility on the summit was low, but reaching the top remained rewarding. We headed down through the mist, grabbed our packs, and hiked the last hour through light rain, ending the day at Mt. Arthur Hut. We spent the night with a friendly family from New Zealand, who gave us hot “Milo” (think malted Ovaltine) and even joined in on our LOTR story-telling.

Kahurangi National Park - Day 2

Day 3 initially took us down into the lower valley, walking along wide, gentle sloping trails through vibrant forests. It was a great start to the 7 hour day. After a few river crossings along small wire bridges, the trail eventually turned upslope. From there it was a very steep and consistent climb up through the forest towards Cobb Ridge, where we started the trek. We achieved the ridge-top after a long and demanding push, and slowed our pace during the last easy hour, reaching the car park shortly after 4:30pm.

Kahurangi National Park - Day 3

We headed back into Motueka and spent the night at quite a nice hostel, taking time to shower, read more LOTR, eat chocolate, and drink some locally brewed ale. The next day, we headed to Blenheim for the Viticulture multi-day field trip that we had to attend.

An Epic Journey

On Saturday, I drove out to Mt. Potts and Mt. Sunday, just for the day. It was one of the best trips I have taken thus far! Mt. Sunday was used as the location for the Rohan village "Edoras" in the Lord of the Rings films. It was chosen, apparently, because the mountains surrounding it are exceptionally rugged and striking. Well, it definitely didn't disappoint! Mt. Sunday isn't much more than a hill with some cool outcrops on it, but it is surrounded by some amazing mountain ranges. Mt. Potts was one of the nearby mountains to the east. To start the day, my buddy Nick and I did the 6.5 hour round-trip hike up Mt. Potts. It was pretty tough (we gained 1400m of elevation), but the views from atop the ridge were definitely worth it. On the way down, the clouds started to clear up and we had blue sky for the rest of the day, perfect for an 1.5hour round-trip to the "summit" (if you could call it that), of Mt. Sunday. To be atop Mt. Sunday, under blue sky, and surrounded by awesome mountains is an indescribable experience. You'll have to see the pictures. Part of what made the day so awesome was that we were the only people out there. You had to take a 25km gravel road out to the trailhead (after 25km on a road that probably isn't traveled much either), so it is in a very remote and isolated valley. Again: indescribable.

Mt. Potts & Mt. Sunday

I spent the whole day Sunday studying because I had a test and two assignments due today (Monday). I think they went well, so I can't complain. More assignments ahead, and soon enough the Easter break - hopefully a 4-5 day hiking trip is in store.

St. Patrick's Day & Field Trip

Hey Everyone!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Yesterday, I headed into Christchurch with my friend Nick to partake in the St. Patrick's Day festivities. We met up with a student from Michigan State, Jason, and his wife, Fina, and went bar-hopping for awhile. We went to a few Irish pubs, and a few microbreweries in town. It was a really fun day. At the Twisted Hop, a very small & very nice microbrewery, I had a bowl of Irish stew that was sooooo good. Eventually, we ended up at Sullivan's Irish Pub, which was packed with festive people. Nick and I ended up sitting down in a booth with this New Zealand family and they showed us a really good time. It was great to be able to chat with some locals, listen to their family histories and life stories, and share a few laughs with a band playing in the background. It was such a fun day. Check out the pictures here:

St. Patrick's Day

Today (Thursday), I had my first field trip. My Soil Resources class went out to Brooksdale Sheep Station in the high-country (i.e. the foothills of the Southern Alps), and looked at some soil pits that have been previously dug by a PhD student, who accompanied us and showed us around. We also spent a good deal of time examining the areas geomorphology, which was pretty interesting and showed evidence of a massive landslide event, as well as a pretty clear fault trace through a mountain pass. We did some field chemistry tests for soil pH and metal-hydroxide concentrations, and looked at how they changed as you moved down the soil profile. It was really interesting. See the pictures for that here:

Brooksdale Station Field Trip

Anyway, I hope all is well back home. I miss you all so much!

Mt. Somers

Hello again,

Things are moving along well here in NZ, and this week was pretty busy. I met up with Grandma on Wednesday for lunch and on Thursday for dinner, and it was a lot of fun. She seems to be having a really good time on her trip, as is Lenore. It was so nice to see some family! On Saturday, 4 of my friends and I drove about 1.5 hours across the Canterbury Plains to Staveley village, where we planned to take a trail to the summit of Mt. Somers. There was rain a few days before in Christchurch, which fell as snow on some of the higher peaks in the area. Mt. Somers had some snow patches on it as well, but most of it had already melted. The hike was supposed to be an 8-hour round trip. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the summit because of some bad weather at high elevation, but it was still a really fun hike with some good views. When we were about 45 minutes from the summit we stopped to have lunch and also keep an eye on the changing weather before we made the final push. In the 20+ minutes that we were sitting eating lunch, the temperature probably dropped 5-10 degrees and the wind really picked up. Rain was threatening too, so we decided to just head back down. I think it was a good decision, because we were getting blown around a little bit during our descent, and it was cold enough for us to don winter jackets, gloves, and hats. Once we got down a ways, it was much warmer and the jackets came off. It was really exciting in a way to be turned back by nature. The whole event made me appreciate NZ and the power of nature all the more! In the end, our hike ended up taking about 6 hours, and was a really fun time.

Mt. Somers

On Sunday morning, my friend Katie and I did a 10km "fun-run" in Lincoln village, organized by the local Rotary. It was a lot of fun and a great way to meet some kiwis outside of the university. They had photographers taking pictures at some points, so hopefully I will be able to snag some pictures of me in action in a week or so. My first big academic assignment, a viticulture report, was due on Monday. I spent the rest of my Sunday writing it - it seems that I'm getting to the stage in the semester when the introductions end and assessment finally begins. Bring it.

This week & weekend I will be busy as well. Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, so I plan on heading into Christchurch and walking around the city, meeting some locals, and taking part in the festivities. Hopefully I can get some corned beef & cabbage...and a pint of Guinness to wash it down. It should be a lot of fun! On Thursday I have my first field trip; I'm heading out to Brooksdale Station to look at some soil pits and profiles that have been prepared by a PhD student here at Lincoln. As a class, we will be looking at the influence of slope aspect on the development (pedogenesis) of Allophanic Brown Soils. I'm really excited. I have a busy week academically next week, so I will need to spend a portion of my weekend doing schoolwork, which is fine. Because of that, I'll probably only do a day hike on Saturday, but maybe I'll take off Friday and stay overnight somewhere if the weather is good. In any case, more fun times are ahead!


I hope all is well back home. HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

Nelson Lakes National Park

Hey Everyone!

This weekend I made it out to Nelson Lakes National Park with three of my friends from Lincoln. It was an amazing trip! We left Thursday afternoon because Friday was a field trip day (they happen every 3-4 weeks at Lincoln)and none of us happened to have field trips this time. We spent the night at a Department of Conservation (DOC) campsite about 3 hours from Lincoln. The next morning (Friday), we drove the remaining 1.5 hours to Nelson Lakes National Park.

At about 1:00 on Friday, we departed with our packs on a 2-day tramp to Angelus Hut. The hut is closed for renovations right now, but our plan was to camp near the hut. I've done plenty of day hikes before, but this was my first overnight backpacking trip - I had to carry my tent, sleeping bag, food, water, and extra clothes all in with me. It was a cool experience. Anyway, we hiked the Robert's Ridge track on the way in and it was very scenic. After a very steep inital climb (~2hours), we reached the ridge and walked along it (gaining elevation steadily) for the next three hours. The last 0.5 hour was a short descent into a small depression where Angelus Lake sat. Right before that final descent, however, a hard rain started and we were faced with high winds and a lot of precipitation. We scrambled down to the lake and set up our tent when the rain had died down somewhat. About 25 minutes after we set up the tent, the rain stopped and the sun came out. If we had only waited a bit, our tent would still be dry! We were fine, because we had rain gear and plenty of warm clothes, but it was still cool to have a little drama on my first serious trip in the bush. The next day (Saturday), we hiked out 5 hours along the Speargrass Track, taking us into dense Beech Forests and back to Lake Rotoiti, the place where we started.

A quick swim in the mountain lake was really refreshing, and we hopped on the road again to get a little bit of driving done. We stayed at the same DOC campsite as we did on Thursday night, and it was a fun time. The next day, we headed home to Lincoln, but not before we made a quick stop at the beach and swam/scrambled through the big waves.

Check out the pictures:

Nelson Lakes National Park

Grandma will be around for a few nights this week as part of her recent elderhostel travels. I'm really excited to see some family. Love you lots!

Arthur's Pass National Park

On Friday afternoon, I met up with my Williams College Geosciences friend Dan Walsh, who is currently spending the semester at University of Canterbury, and his roommate Chris, who is from Germany and is studying Business/Industrial Engineering. Once they arrived in Lincoln - only a short bus ride from UC - we piled into my car and headed out towards Arthur's Pass. Arthur's Pass is a winding roadway that cuts through the Southern Alps and reaches the west coast. It is the only route to the west coast for about a thousand kilometers in either direction (north or south). So, it has some historical significance. The three of us, however, were heading to Arthur's Pass to go hiking in the national park which bears its name. On Friday, we drove into the little village of Arthur's Pass around 7:00pm and everything was already closed, so we went to find a spot to spend the night. About 10km back, there was a nice bare-bones camping area (no water, no electricity, no numbered sites, etc.), and that's where we decided to spend the night. We set up a tent in case of rain, but our plan was to sleep under the stars. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, so we slept in our sleeping bags out in the field. The stars were incredible. It did get down to about 40 degrees, but we came prepared so we were fine. Check out the pictures of Friday night here:

Driving to Arthur's Pass

I awoke just before sunrise the next morning, ready for the day. We went to the park visitor center and asked about some good day hikes; we decided to take the Avalanche Peak track, a strenuous 6-8 hour return hike that would bring you to the summit of Avalanche Peak, the second-highest peak in the area. It was an incredible hike: challenging climb, great weather, great visibility, and wonderful views. See these awesome pictures here:

Avalanche Peak track in Arthur's Pass Nat'l Park

That night, we stayed at a really inexpensive, but homey hostel. We made grilled cheese for dinner, and played Pictionary with a French-speaking family on holiday, who were also staying in the hostel. The next day, we drove back towards Christchurch, but stopped in the Castle Hill Basin first to hike around for a few hours and eat lunch. Castle Hill is awesome because huge limestone boulders and outcrops dot the surface of this basin, which is surrounded by scenic ranges. We ate lunch on the slopes of a large hill, and then we played a game of cribbage when we got to the top. Pictures:

Castle Hill Basin

We got back to Lincoln U around 4:30 today - what a weekend. I don't know what I will be up to this weekend, but I plan on traveling and hiking again. Hope all is well with you back home!

Much Love,
-James

Campus Happening and My First Adventure

So, it's only Thursday, but I have done so many things since Monday. On Tuesday, I went to my morning classes, which were good, and then I went to my first Viticulture lab in the afternoon. I was assigned to manage row 35, which has Chardonnay grapes growing on it, with another study abroad student from Michigan Tech. We did some density sampling, and then did some leaf plucking to expose the grape clusters to more light and air. I hope I turn out to be a good viticulturist, otherwise someone in the wine-making class is going to bad grapes because of me! In any case, I'm excited for the opportunity to manage it further. The vineyard is very scenic, and across from us was a small sheep station run by Lincoln U. I ran back there after class and took some pictures.

Around the Lincoln Vineyard

Wednesday made Tuesday seem like a boring, uneventful day. First off, I have no classes on Wednesday so I had the whole day to myself. I woke up bright and early and took a bus into Christchurch, and after some final paperwork, I picked up my CAR that I had purchased on Saturday. Sorry that I forgot to take a picture, but it's a 1988 Mitsubishi Galant, 5-speed, 4-door. It's white, and it's drives much more smoothly (and with almost no rust) than the dream-machine - more recently renamed the scream-machine due to its lack of a muffler. Anyway, driving on the right side of the car in the left lane is pretty cool, especially when the speed limit is 100 (that's km/hr, but its alarming at first watching the speedometer get so high). I came back to campus in my new hip ride, complete with A/C, power steering, power locks and a nice radio around 10:30am. At about 11:30, I picked up two new friends, Matt and Marina, and we headed out to Akaroa. Akaroa is a small little beach town in the center of Banks Peninsula, which is an ancient volcano that has been heavily eroded. Akaroa lies along the side of a giant crater which blew out on one side, letting the pacific come rushing in and forming Long Bay. I wanted to go to Akaroa, because the pictures I had seen made it look like a little beach town in the Caribbean. You won't believe the pictures. We went swimming at the beach and it was awesome! The water was like the temperature of Westport Beach or Horseneck Beach in the summer time. We had some fish and chips. And, we went on 2 hour boat cruise around the bay for sightseeing. The main attraction was the Hector Dolphin, an indigenous species to New Zealand and the world's smallest dolphin. We saw tons of them! We also saw penguins and seals, but, for me, the best part was seeing the cliff faces along the water's edge, displaying distinct lava flow strata. The lava flows were so easily seen because most were followed by a layer of ash, which had eroded along the edge of the cliff (because ash typically erodes more easily than volcanic rock), creating little ledges between each lava flow. Birds nested all along these. Also, we got a free drink on the boat so we all opted for New Zealand's famous Sauvignon Blanc - it was indescribably good. After, that it took us an hour drive to get back to Lincoln and we arrived around 6:30, just in time to catch dinner. You've got to look at these pictures - I couldn't believe this place when I saw it.

Akaroa and Banks Peninsula

Hope all is well. I've got to go do some homework now. After all, I am in school. This weekend, I may go tramping (the kiwi word for hiking) up in Arthur's Pass with my Williams College geology friend Dan Walsh, who goes to University of Canterbury, which is about 30minutes down the road. Take care, and feel free to comment/email me

First Day of School

Today was the first day of classes, and they didn't disappoint. My intro soil science class has more than 150 people in it, which is not desirable, but the outline of the course material, as explained by the professor (who is Scottish and has a ridiculous beard), gave me the impression that I will really enjoy the lectures. My viticulture class has about 60 students, and about half of them are from the U.S.. I have learned that, as part of the course, I will be assigned two rows of grapes in the university-owned vineyard to manage and care for with a partner. The professors mentioned that, often, we will have to go to the vineyard and provide maintenance outside of lab time (i.e. late afternoons and weekends). I'm pretty excited for that opportunity/responsibility! One of the highly recommended, but not explicitly required, course materials is a pair of secateurs for vine pruning and management (I figured out after a few confused minutes that "secateurs" is the British name for hand/pruning shears).

My "Environmental Analysis with GIS" seems like it will be really informative. The lecturer is a cool guy who I really believe will be able to make each lecture entertaining. A susbstantial part of our grade for that class is a final project. Our Professor knows that the students in the class come from many different academic backgrounds (environmental/agricultural sciences, landscape architecture, urban planning/transportation), so he wants our final projects to be related to common applications of GIS software in our respective fields. This is great, because I will have the opportunity to do a GIS project specifically related to geology, or at least environmental science.

My last class, SOSC342 - Soil Resources, is the most advanced class in my schedule. Based on today's opening lecture and course outline, I think it will be the most rewarding. The lectures cover units that I am specifically interested in (Soil Genesis, Soil Classification/Taxonomy, Soil Data Interpretation) and all within a framework that examines soil as more than just a medium for agricultural production and worthy of study independently. I was thrilled to hear that. The class, like many of my other classes, is very practical and has a significant field component. We have two big field excursions, one of which is an all day trip to a catchment in the Canterbury mountains where we are examining mineral leaching in higher precipitation and elevation soils. Soil test pits have already been dug out there, as one of our Professors is currently conducting research at the site. The other trip is a 5-day research project (during our spring recess) at a Dairy Farm outside of Ashburton, where we are working with electromagnetic field monitoring to make a detailed soil map of the area. I believe the project is associated with government research in some way. More on that when I know.

Right now, I am pleased with the way my classes look. All I can do is wait for tomorrow, and see how the REAL first day of lectures goes.

Christchurch, Sun Exposure, and Local Peaches

On Friday and Saturday I went to Christchurch, which is the big urban center of Canterbury. It really isn't that big, however, and has a very welcoming "classic" feel. I'd like to say it's European, but my never having been to Europe prohibits me from doing so through lack of genuine comparison. Christchurch is about a 55-minute bus ride from Lincoln U, but that is due to the many stops and heavy traffic. On Friday, I came into Christchurch to explore the city and also get a wrist watch (without my cell phone I never know what time it is). The first stop was Cathedral Square, where the Christchurch Cathedral stands and is surrounded by a large paved courtyard, which is used for merchant space and entertainment. The courtyard was packed with people, but had a very laid back feel. After that, I went searching for a simple wrist watch. It was harder than you think, as most of the stores near Cathedral Square were brand-name fashion stores, thus the watches there were well out of my price range. I eventually found a place (A jewelry store, of all things) and got a simple Casio. I was happy to go with a dependable brand name. At that point, I had done a lot of walking and was ready for lunch. Lo' and Behold! Right across the street was a place called Burgers and Beers, Inc. The place could be described as having a "Classic horror film" theme. See the pictures. Anyway, it was a real nice place to relax and watch the city operate. As one would assume, I had a burger and a beer (both delicious).

Christchurch for a day

Saturday I went into Christchurch searching for an automobile. More on that later. Today has been great. I woke up, ate breakfast, went to the gym, showered, then went to the supermarket for a mid-afternoon snack. It's a 15-20 minute walk, so I put sunscreen on my face and neck which got some good sun yesterday. At the supermarket, I bought a few fresh, ripe and locally grown peaches (That's right, they are in season right now) and some roasted chicken that had been picked off the bone already. On the walk back, I took my shirt off and exposed my whiteness to the world. It was awesome. And yes, the peaches were delicious.

Tomorrow is the first day of classes. I'm really excited to see what it's going to be like. Also, I have no classes on Wednesday (I didn't plan on it, but my schedule worked out that way), so I think I'm going to head towards the coast. Swimming at the beach in February! Imagine that.

Compare & Contrast

Hey all!
So I'm finally in New Zealand. After my flight got canceled from Auckland to Christchurch, I had to wait an additional 6 hours to get the next available spot on a flight (they run every hour from Auckland to Christchurch, but they were all booked). Thankfully, I got picked up in the airport by someone from Lincoln. Registration was slightly confusing, but now I'm all set with a student ID, gym membership, meal plan, and of course a dorm room. I live next to a few other Americans from Colorado State and Michigan State.

So having been here for day and a half, I've decided NZ is definitely not the U.S.: The faucets turn the other direction, they drive on the other side of the road. Some of the kiwi accents are barely discernible. People love to walk around barefoot, even when its raining. Also, the drinking age is 18, so all the freshman (the only other people on campus right now) have been having a really good time. I can't say I haven't had a brew or two myself. The kiwis are all very friendly, and "cheers, mate" seems to be the appropriate response for an infinite number of situations. Anyway, I hope this message finds you happy and healthy back home. Tomorrow, I'm off to Christchurch to explore the city.

See some photos here:

New Zealand Blog Photos

Pre-Departure

Less than a week to go! Excited - yes. Nervous - yes. All packed - nope.

I'm leaving Monday morning and when I arrive in New Zealand it will be Wednesday morning over there. Who cares how long the flight is? I certainly don't. Quick facts:
Swansea latitude is about 42 degrees north. Lincoln is about 44 south. It is currently 21 degrees F in Williamstown, MA; It's 69 degrees F in Lincoln, New Zealand right now.

More last minute paperwork to do so I have to go. But look out, more post are on the way!