Sunday and Monday’s weather was like this:

Approximately 60 degrees (I just got splashed with water that was NOT 60 degrees)

And here is today:

About 43 degrees + strong southerlies

Somehow, we are already half way through October which means several things: spring weather (kind-of?) and blooming flowers (pretty), no more classes (bittersweet), cramming in every bit of adventure possible (awesome), Rugby World Cup finals (EXCITING! Go ABs!), maximizing nice days in Dunedin (pretending its warmer than it is, getting outside), and studying for finals (boo). It also means I haven’t blogged in a very long time and have many things to catch up on. Back-tracking now.

First off, I must say I absolutely love the time I get to spend with my flatmates. We’re always spinning yarns and having a laugh. Catch that Kiwi phrase? One Saturday, we had an afternoon out on the peninsula. One of the things about NZ that continually catches me off-guard is how much beauty surrounds me here. For instance, just a short 10 minute drive out to the beach got us this spectacular view for a lovely, afternoon picnic. 

We ate with the seals at Sandfly Bay (ok not exactly, but close enough) and went for a drive out to Allan’s Beach. It’s days like this one that make you sit back and cherish all the times I’ve spent here with these wonderful people :) 

On another random occasion, Kelsey texted me to see if I wanted to go to the England vs. Georgia Rugby World Cup game that was in Dunedin. She sent the message around 5, and the game started at 6. At the time I thought, why not?? I had gotten a chance to see the All Blacks play early in the year, but I hadn’t been to a world cup game. We debated between the cheap seats or the next section up that were only $10 more. The final decision was the slightly more expensive tickets and boy were they worth it. We ended up on the front row of the stadium- so much up close and personal action to the game! I almost could reach out and touch the players. England dominated Georgia, but the game was fun and exciting nonetheless. Game days are always interesting in Dunedin when you combine the college crowd and the hardcore sports fans. 

More recently, I went with Victoria, Kelsey, Anna, Dan and some of his friend on a camping trip in the Catlins. We stayed at Purakaniu Beach for the weekend. Packing the car is where the adventure started. Dan kept telling us “pack light” so we could fit all the camping gear and stuff for 5 people in the back of his Subaru. Success.

It took close to 2 hours to arrive at our destination. When we got there, it took a while to decide the best place to put up our tents. The area close to the beach was a bit swampy- perfect breeding ground for mozzies. Up on the hill we were worried about the wind, but decided that overall it was the better location (except for us females - it was about a 5 minute walk to the toilets). In the decision process, the boys decided to check out the other side of the beach. They had to cross a small stream to get there and its a miracle we didn’t get stranded there for a bit. On the way over, the underneath of the car hit a huge rock. On the way back, they decided they should get out and check for rocks before they crossed again. Smarties. There was a video, but pictures will have to suffice. We could have made a Subaru commercial out of this. 

This was the first of many adventures for the weekend. The second came when we went to set up our tent and the bag contained one pole. For a 4 person tent. There should have been 3 poles (thanks Unipol). Oh boy. No worries though- we moved the tent between some trees, the boys had some rope, and we fixed er right up! Getting in and out of the tent was the biggest challenge since there was only about a foot of opening room. It held up all weekend despite the wind- and was perfectly cozy inside!

Overall, the weather wasn’t bad for the weekend. Saturday it was sunny and nice for about half the day, and then the clouds rolled in and the wind picked up. Apparently the weather in the Catlins is always like this, unpredictable. Luckily, it didn’t rain and we made the most of it. The boys went diving in the morning and got a bunch of abalone and made fritters out of them (which I tried but I’m afraid they aren’t for me). I’ll post a video of these things- fascinating. On our way to the dive spot, we had to cross over a bunch of rocks. I was leading the group and looking down to make sure I wouldn’t trip. We were close to the grass line, so I decided to head that way because the rocks were slowing us down. In the process, I literally almost stepped on a seal. A fairly large seal at that. I was probably within 2-3 feet of him, and I think I scared him about as much as he scared me. When my feet first hit the grass, he instantly raised his body up and bellowed at me- I’ve never ran back over rocks so fast in my life. I’m afraid I’ve had enough frights from the seals/sea lions down here. They are one thing I certainly won’t miss :) There was also an attempt at kayaking, surfing, and rugby on the beach that went on. We saw beautiful sunsets and sunrises, and had a grand ol’ time. 

Sunset the first night

Sunset the second night

Sunrise

Following our long bike adventure the day before, the ladies decided to make Monday a lazy day while Joey biked around the North part of the island. It was supposed to be a day to sleep in, but of course the roosters would NOT ever allow that. Every day, we rolled out of bed no later than 7:15 after being in and out of sleep since about 5 a.m. The girls and I checked out a couple of the tracks around Alofi and chilled out around the house. When we got bored we rode our bikes down to pick up Anna’s scuba diving pictures and had cocktails at the Matava Resort. Overall, a great, relaxing day. 

This gives you an idea of how far out the reef goes in most places

Tuesday was another big biking day as we planned to hit all of the hot spots on the North Island. This was a big undertaking for one day, and we ended up spending most of our time at Matapa Chasm and Talava Arches. This was by far my favorite day and two favorite spots on the island. Matapa Chasm was perfect for snorkeling (or our version, just with goggles) and swimming. Once you got about halfway out into the middle, the depth increased significantly and the water was cold. I couldn’t bring myself to go out past halfway. Once I got to the deep spot, I would flip out a little bit and swim frantically back to the parts where I could stand. At one point, Anna and I were out in the deep water and I swam back. When she followed suit, she told me there were two eels below us. Good thing I didn’t see those….I knew I was swimming back for a reason. Apparently sharks swim into this part sometimes also. Overall, this was the perfect swimming spot with amazing scenery when you were out of the water. 

The Talava Arches track was right beside Matapa so we did it right after. This was a pretty extensive track over all coral rock (not the most easy or comfortable stuff to walk on). It took probably 30 minutes through the dense rain forest. I remember telling Joey- this better be worth it. Well, I shouldn’t have doubted it in the least. The track brought us out to the most magnificent, beautiful spot. We entered first into a massive cave and explored it for some time and thought that was it. Then we went down a path and around the corner was a spectacular view of the ocean. The four of us just sat here for a while and enjoyed the beauty of what was created and a pack of dolphins swam by. This world is filled with so many amazing and breathtaking creations and I’m just happy I got to experience some of them on this trip. 

The entrance

We ended our exploring for Tuesday at Limu Pools. This was a great place for swimming and absolutely beautiful, but the water was a bit hazy for snorkeling. However, we swam for a while, laid on the benches and got some sun, and headed back home. 

Pool #1

Pool #2

Wednesday was another lazy day. Spent some time at the beach, gettin our tan on. That night, our friends Alex and Mark who lived on the island brought over some freshly caught crayfish and “bugs” (can’t remember their actual name). I was hesitant to try these because I’m not a big seafood fan. However, this was probably one of my favorite meals of all time. The crayfish were absolutely delicious, I ate the bugs too and some wahoo. We had it with stirfry and beer. Great night. 

Note the excited kitty in the background. 

Thursday was our last day and we tried to do all of the sea tracks north of us. We almost accomplished this, I think we only missed two. There were some really cool caves and this is when we got to see humpback whales. Seeing whales was my last goal for the week and I was thrilled for this to actually happen. After we saw them once that morning, I think we came across them again 2 or 3 more times that day, and once the next morning. There were some really neat caves, and pictures describe them better than words. Later that night, Anna went to swim with the sharks and Victoria and I stayed on the reef and watched the whales do a little performance for about an hour. 

To close out the week, we got up early Friday morning with plans to kayak out to the whales. Someone else had taken out the kayaks, so instead we visited a spot on the east side of the island because Alex had a car. This ended up being a great alternative to kayaking and we swam through a really intense, freshwater chasm (anapola). We closed out the morning with some PP&J’s on the wharf, and headed to the airport.

Anapola Chasm. Stole these pics from Joey because we didn’t have our camera that morning

Yeah- we swam through that water to the other side. Fastest I’ve ever swam in my life. Couldn’t see anything except the other side. 

East Coast of Niue

Niue was an unforgettable experience and something I will be telling stories about for a lifetime. It was worth every penny that it cost me (which wasn’t that much—-I think everyone should go!!). I had the best time with Anna, Joey, and Victoria and with the people we met on the island. Overall, an excellent way to spend my mid-semester break with no regrets. 

Sunday we had a big day planned. We only rented bikes for the week but knew we wanted to see some places on the opposite side of the island. From what we estimated, it was about 16 km to get to Togo Chasm- which was considered a “must see” on the island. So we set out early to get there, packed with plenty of water, snacks, and lunch. It took around 1.5 hours to bike there because the road was a gradual incline the entire way. We were glad we left early to do the hardest part of the biking in the morning before it got too warm because the majority of the road was not shaded.

Once we arrived we had to do about a 20 minute walk through the bush. This lead us to a beautiful clearing at the ocean where we hiked through massive coral pinnacles to reach a ladder into the chasm. At the bottom of the ladder was a beautiful sandy cove with palm trees. Now- coming from someone who is slightly afraid of heights, this was a little intimidating. The ladder went STRAIGHT down for a LONG ways. Joey went first while Anna was giving me a pep talk to just go for it and quit thinking about it. Once I got my hands and feet over the edge and made it a few rungs down, I relaxed a bit. A tiny bit. When I finally hit the bottom there was a huge sigh of relief and I was glad I conquered that fear :) At first, we were the only ones there and it was the most beautiful, relaxing atmosphere. We took some time to explore the cave that connected to the ocean. 

Shortly after, our serenity was interrupted by a family of 4, and then 26 fishermen, probably in their 50-60s. You can tell from the picture how small this area was, so 26 men bombarding our space, and discovering three attractive young females, wasn’t exactly enjoyable. We left soon after they arrived and started on the long ride back to Alofi. It only took us around an hour to get back, but it was much hotter and there wasn’t much of a breeze. We rested a bit, then headed to explore the reefs at the wharf and at what was around in the few shops. Everything seemed dead/quiet because it was Sunday and absolutely nothing was open. There is no boating or fishing allowed on Sunday’s, and the most people on the island spend the majority of the day in church. We attempted to watch a movie- but it skipped too much so I went to bed around 8 p.m. 

Bike total for the day: 32 km

For mid-semester break, Anna, Victoria, Joey and I decided to go to Niue: The Rock of Polynesia. Niue is a small Pacific island surrounded by Samoa, Tonga, and the Cook Islands. However, its not nearly as popular and its tourism industry hasn’t developed as much. This may be primarily because there’s no long sandy beaches and its certainly more for the adventure enthusiasts than the “work on my tan while having a cocktail” types (although we did manage both!). I was drawn to the island by its sense of adventure, it being known for swimming with whales and dolphins right off shore, numerous sea tracks, caves, and chasms, and the lack of other tourists. Also, the island has a land area of only 100 sq miles and only 1400 inhabitants: we managed to bike everywhere we wanted to go and EVERYONE waved as they drove by on the streets. For once in my life- I went to a place where there were NO McDonald’s. Anna wanted to go for the scuba diving- which is almost incomparable to anywhere else in the world. Niue is one of the world’s largest “atolls”- or coral islands- and has the most beautiful waters and unlimited visibility that you can imagine. All the Niueans have dual citizenship with New Zealand and speak both English and Niuean.

To give you an even better sense of the size of the island, there is one flight in-and-out of Auckland per week that is only operated by Air New Zealand. This outbound flight turned out to be slightly disastrous for us because the plane was having mechanical issues, turning into a 5 hour delay. We totaled 16 hours in one space after spending the night in Auckland Airport. I was going a bit craaazzyy by the time we finally got on the flight. When we finally arrived in Niue it was dark, we were tired, and slightly disappointed that we couldn’t see what anything looked like. This was the only time during the entire week that we were a bit grumpy (except for one more hangry day = hungry/angry). The week was UNBELIEVABLE. 

The first day, Anna went diving so Joey, Victoria, and I set out to rent our bikes for the week and head to the beach. The one beach. Which turns out- isn’t the ONLY beach, its just the biggest one. Which was about twice the size of the other small coves that provided a sandy place for us to enjoy. Also on the way, we stopped at a neat point where the HUGE waves were crashing up on the rocks and sprinkling us with mist. Then at the beach we spent the day swimming around in the shallow reef- oooing and ahhhing at all the pretty fish, jumping at the scuttling crabs, and reapplying sunscreen because our white, winter bodies weren’t used to the warm weather. This beach, Avatele, was also a big spot for fishermen and had a boat ramp that was primarily utilized by the Dive Shop. We were surprised at this “beach”, however, because it was rocky and not sandy. Couldn’t have bothered us in the least, this place was so cool. The first day we biked around 26 km round trip. During the bike ride home, I managed to fall, while walking and my bike beside me, down a big gravel hill and scraped up my knee. Note the lovely picture that follows. I got a lot of crap for that one because I wasn’t even on my bike :) We also came across the hospital and there was a sign that said “Slow down- Hospital”. This was hilarious to me because we easily biked 3 people across the road the majority of the time and rarely encountered other vehicles. That night, we started the routine of watching the sunset, made some dinner, and turned in early. 

Washaway Cafe- only open on Sundays

The hospital that we slowed down for.

hehe

Adventures in Niue Parts 2,3, and maybe even 4 COMING SOON!

A couple of fun things happened this weekend while staying in Dunedin. On Friday afternoon Anna, Victoria, Kelsey and I went to the Chinese Gardens. It was really neat to feel like we were in a different country but didn’t have leave Dunedin. We walked around a bit, took pictures, and had some tea and steamed buns. 

On Saturday, a few of us went to the Wellington Pheonix vs Brisbane soccer game at the new stadium that they built for the World Cup. Its the only fully covered stadium in New Zealand, but was still a bit chilly. Much better than being outside at night in the winter time though! Sadly, New Zealand didn’t play so hot and we lost 1-5. Later that night Lyndsay and I checked out the Octagon Rail Jam. I don’t think we’ve ever had one of these in North Carolina. If we do I have never heard of them. They set up a huge ramp in the middle town and trucked in a bunch of snow. Then, snowboarders and skiers did their best to show off their moves on the ramps and rails. Very cool. After that we went to Toast and had the most delicious cocktails. 

Sunday was pretty laid back and now today the weather is absolutely beautiful. Anna and I are sitting in the courtyard on our computers and playing with the cats who have become my new best friends :) We have no idea whos cats they are but their names are now Chester and Casper. Tomorrow its supposed to be a few degrees warmer than today and I am pumped. Life is good in Dunedin. 

They turned the sprinklers on at half time and the little kids who got to play on the field were soaked.

Rail Jam