Sorry for the delays, but here is the much awaited recap of my past 2 weeks. My mom and Kyle arrived on Monday the 12th and we walked around downtown Chch and had a nice meal out. The next morning we went and picked up our spaceship, yes spaceship. We rented a minivan from spaceship rentals, and it was awesome. It was bright orange, well ours was a dull orange because it was kind of old, but nonetheless orange with spaceship written in big letters all over the place. It had your standard driver and passenger seats, and then a short bench seat in back. Behind the bench seat was a framed set of cubbies that were located underneath a bed. The bed had two options to achieve full length, you could either spin the bench seat around(yes it spun) and then there were legs that would drop in and you could put another cushion up front, or you could open the back of the van and there was a rack that would pull out and the extra cushion could go out the back. Along the whole edge of the door, and the edge of the inside of the van right at the door they had riveted in snaps and there was a thick tarp similar to the material used on a boat dodger that snapped in place to keep out the weather(it didn't work super well for sandflies though). The van also had a small tv screen in back so you could watch DVDs. We were given 2 DVDs to start with and we were encouraged to exchange with other "space travelers" whenever we saw them. Never fear tho, if you did not run into another space traveler then you could stop in at one of many "space stations" around NZ and exchange your DVDs there. Now that you have the gist of our hilariously corny but totally awesome ride I'll continue on. We headed out of Chch and up into Arthur's Pass. Our first stop was a place called Cave Stream; it is a cave that goes through a hillside and takes about an hour to walk through. You literally walk along the stream bed in freezing cold water that is sometimes waist deep. Obviously it was wicked cool and incredible to walk through a hillside. (mom only fell once) After that we drove through the pass to Greymouth on the west coast where we took a tour of Montieth's Brewery and got to taste some of their delicious beers. Did I mention that it had been raining since we started coming down out of Arthur's Pass? Well anyway it wasn't raining at this point, it was pouring. We drove on down the west coast for probably another hour or so before stopping to camp. When we pulled in to our campsite it wasn't raining so being the confident scout that I am I decided that I could set up my tent and remain quite dry throughout the night. I did get my tent up, and it was dry for the moment, but since all my belongings were able to live in the car instead of in my tent, I had no pressure on the edges of the tent where the tarp was folded under. Due to this miscalculation, the tarp unfolded a wee bit and allowed the water to run off my tent and puddle on top of the tarp (it couldn't even run off due to the fact that the edges were folded up). I did what I could to stay on top of my sleeping pad, and I was able to stay dry, but my tent was thoroughly soaked. For the rest of the time in our spaceship, at night we would pile our bags on top of the bench seat and on the ground next to it and with the help of my inflatable bedroll I slept on duffle bags. Anyway, the next morning we went to the Franz Josef Glacier and walked right up to the end moraine (bottom end). It was a truly incredible sight, and to get to it you walked up the valley that the glacier had receded through so you could see the exact path it had taken. One thing that was really hard to wrap your head around was that because the west coast of NZ gets so much rain the vegetation is incredibly lush, so you literally walk through a rain forest and come out looking at a massive body of ice. It was a bit confusing, but hey that's NZ. We then drove on down, took a quick look at the Fox Glacier and then found a place to camp. The next morning we took a quick walk out to the blue pools, which is where these two rivers meet and the back edies create calm swirling pools. The water is supposed to be crystal clear, but unfortunately due to the overcast weather we did not get to see and trout "floating in air beneath you" as they say. Our next stop was Wanaka where we happened to pull in to PUZZLE WORLD!!! it was pretty damn awesome. They had a crazy illusion rooms with all sorts of weird stuff going on and then one room that was on about a 30 deg. slant which completely screwed with your sensory perception. They also had a very confusing adult size maze which was pretty fun to try to figure your way around. We then swung through Queenstown, had Fergburger and headed on down through Te Anu and camped out on the way to Milford Sound. The next morning we headed out to Milford Sound for my 2nd time, and took a boat cruise out to the mouth which was incredible. It had snowed a bit the night before so all the mountain tops had a nice white covering. On our way back out from the sound we stopped to do a hike that had been recommended to us by my program director. We were supposed to get up to a saddle between two mountains that overlooked Milford Sound, unfortunately about 200 meters from the top we hit smooth rock surface covered in ice...needless to say we had to turn back. Regardless tho it was a pretty cool hike straight up the side of an alpine valley and we got to hike up above the snow line for a while which was pretty sweet. Our journey then took us back up through the center of the south island where we stopped at Mt. Cook (highest peak in NZ). The visitors center was incredibly cool and was actually more of a mountaineering museum giving a history of Mt. Cook and the many excursions that had taken place, as well as confirming the fact that my dad's hiking boots are artifacts. (there was a pair in the museum) The weather worked in our good fortune and the clouds cleared while we were in the visitors center to allow us a full view of Mt. Cook, and it was pretty amazing. On our last day together we headed out to the Bank's Peninsula which is to the east of Christchurch. It is one of the very distinct volcanic features in NZ and is comprised of incredible steep rolling farm land and numerous little bays that line the coastline. We stopped in the French settlement of Akaroa and did some shopping and then continued out to Hickory Bay on the very tip where I hopped in for a surf. Unfortunately the waves were not coming from the right direction so the surf was pretty terrible, but the incredible location made up for it. We ended the day having dinner with an Israeli family who my mom and brother were staying the night with via the servas program.

I then headed off to Survey Camp for my last week of break. The entire sophomore civil engineering class spent the week at a camp in the hills above Lyttleton, about 20 min outside of chch, working on all sorts of crazy surveying tasks. We had to create a topographic map of an area, take measurements for a road widening and reconstruction, and locate the exact location of the for corner pegs for a prefabricated shed to be dropped on to. It was a pretty fun time and it was also my first time since being here where I was completely surrounded and immersed into kiwi culture which was interesting to say the least.

Overall it was a great break and I had amazing experience and met some really cool people. I am now struggling to get back into school mode again and come to grips with the fact that I only have 2 months left over here.

Cheers from the Southern Hemisphere!

ps. its fall down here now and I don't like it. good thing summer is on the way again!

SO. the past 10 days have been pretty action packed. I finished out classes on Thursday the 1st with an incredibly easy Intro to Maori test, and then Friday morning headed South towards Fiordland with some of my flatmates and my friend Alyssa to begin my first extended period of time carrying everything I need on my back. Alyssa and I split from my flatmates who were headed to Queenstown and hitchhiked on down to Te Anu. On the last leg of our hitch we got picked up at 9:30 at night by a family of 4 who were also headed to Te Anu, the dad is a Christchurch surfing legend and was one of the first people to surf out on the Banks Penninsula...pretty epic, and it saved us from camping on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. We woke up the next morning in a mild drizzle and went and waited at the Department of Conservancy (DOC) office for the rest of our friends to get there. 9 of us headed out on the Kepler track around noon on Saturday with a light rain overhead. This "light" rain quickly turned into a consistent downpour and by the time we had reached our first break point, 2 hrs into the hike, we had all determined that nothing we had was actually waterproof regardless of labeling. Our plan for that night was to camp at a free campsite just off the track that was also listed as having a 4 bunk hut. By the time we got to the campsite we were all cold and wet, we went into the hut which was already occupied by a fisherman, his son, and his son's friend who were up from Southland fishing for the weekend. We were ecstatic to see that they had a fire going and they graciously invited all 9 of us in to the hut (which actually had 6 bunks). After drying out our belongings and warming up we were all invited to stay in the hut, so with a few people double bunking we fit 12 people into a hut that couldn't have been more than 20'x15'. Thankfully we woke up the next day to sunshine and were able to continue on in good spirits. Since the Kepler track is considered a "Great Walk" they charge considerably for hut and campsite accommodations, seeing as I am quite stingy and adventurous I decided that it would be in my best interest to freedom camp (i.e. camp outside of 500 m from the trail). That next night when we arrived at the campsite my mates had booked, I headed off down the river and found an amazing campsite right on the river at the base of a massive cliff. Monday we headed up to the saddle and after about 2 hrs of switchbacks we were rewarded with AMAZING views of the surrounding mountain ranges of Fiordland. We had crystal clear skies and only a light breeze (it was blowing 80+ km/hr the day before) so we were thrilled. We ended day 3 back down along Lake Te Anu at Brod Bay for our final night on the Kepler. As you will see in the pictures, I had yet another amazing campsite right on the water :) After a morning skinny dip and some yoga on the beach we hiked out to Te Anu for some much deserved fish and chips and other greasy fatty sugary foods after 4 days of eating ramen noodles, oatmeal and peanutbutter. We met up with my friend Travis (big red beard) and from there some people headed back to Queenstown and the rest of us headed up towards Milford Sound. Milford Sound was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! The drive out alone was breathtaking and when we got there it was stunning. Huge steep snow capped peaks on all sides with water falls streaming down. Words and pictures do not come close to capturing how beautiful it was.

On Thursday my friend Austin, his brother Eric, and I started off on the Routeburn track which goes from Milford road through the mountains to just outside of Queenstown(If you remember back a few weeks I had already hiked the Queenstown half of the trail). The Milford side of the track is SPECTACULAR. We shot up above the tree line almost immediately and were greeted with ridiculously gorgeous alpine views. The three of us then had lunch next to a 174m waterfall, which i took a much needed shower in. Our first night we bushwacked our way down a "side trail" past one of the huts that had not been cleared in atleast a year or so. We ended up camping on a river delta at the base of a hanging valley between 2 peaks (see pics). The next day the track took us about 3/4 of the way to the top of the range and then traversed along above the Hollyford River valley. Needless to say this was also amazing. We reached the summit of Conical Hill (1540m i believe)around 3 pm and then headed down the other side to find our next campsite. Eric had a recommendation from a hitchhiker for an amazing place to camp so when we reached the valley floor we headed up along another canyon to an upper alpine meadow where we spent our last night on the track.

A few side notes about both tracks:

1) It is definitely NOT still summer at the southern end of the island. It was VERY cold almost every night, and on the last night of the Routeburn I woke up to find my tent was legitimately a block of ice...whether or not this had anything to do with the additional fact that i may or may not have thrown my pack in the river we had to cross is yet to be determined...

2) Living for multiple days on end on a diet of ramen noodles, oatmeal, peanutbutter, granola bars, nutmix and water is not that enjoyable. But, when you are freezing cold at night and in the morning, hot food is truly amazing.

To end the adventures of my first week of break I hitchhiked back from Queenstown to Christchurch, miraculously in only 2 rides. The first from an off duty taxi driver headed home, and the second from a german physicist who is studying abroad in Sydney. He was headed from Queenstown to Christchurch in a campervan and picked me up about 7:30 pm Saturday night. Our plan was to drive straight through to Chch but seeing as for some reason everything but the bars closes by 7 oclock at the latest we came very close to running out of petrol and had to stop and spend the night in a small town along the way. This morning (Sunday) we woke up and he was kind enough to drive me right back to my flat! Tomorrow begins another adventure when my mom and brother (Kyle) fly in and we head off down the west coast to see the glaciers!

In case you can't tell I'm not enjoying myself at all here.

Cheers!