Monday, August 31, 2009
No, I haven't died...
Just to let whatever readers are still out there no, this blog hasn't died. The last 6 weeks have seen alot of adjustment on my behalf, and as a result I haven't had alot of time to write. I'll have you know that I AM working on posts from my last month abroad (which was the coolest month) and that after that is done, I will continue to write about my readjustment and life here in America. Just stay tuned and in the next few weeks I'll try to post what I can. Deal?
Monday, July 13, 2009
Australia
I apologize for not having updated in so long, but this is the first time I have had internet in weeks. Enjoy.
On Thursday we finally left student village (myself and friends Maggie and Brice). To say it was a sad farewell is a massive understatement. Everyone that I have met and come to love in the past few months is now split- the IG (International Group, as we became known) was about to fracture. Love was shared, good wishes sent. I shook the hand of every one of my wonderful friends, then embraced them. When I leave NZ for good, I will miss the people I have met way more than any bird, mountain or island. Even though I know I will see many of them once more (especially the Kiwis) I know that we most likely will never be together like this again- my hope is that if someone ties the knot, the IG will reconvene; that would be a day to cherish.
The plane trip to Cairns was two flights- Auckland to Sydney to Cairns. It gave me alot of thinking time, and I realized just how deeply and immediately I missed these people already.
After a long day of flight, we dropped into Cairns. I got in a van to go to the hostel, took the window down, and put my head out the whole way. Where Waikato had frost every morning, Cairns had easy, breezy 70 degree weather. I think I like this country.
After sleeping for about 6 hours, we woke up before dawn to get to our dive shop. We would be taking a liveaboard boat to go dive the Great Barrier reef, every marine biologist’s (and diver’s) dream. The boat held over 30 people, 5 or so crew (including a french chef, ooh la la!). We would be doing 11 dives over 3 days- normally, a day long dive trip consists of 2 dives. Our schedule was literally: Wake up pre dawn (5:45 am), Sunrise Dive, Breakfast, Morning Dive, snack, Noon Dive,Lunch, afternoon/ sunset Dive, Dinner, night Dive, Cake. It was tiring, it was repetitive, it was smelly and wet and crowded, and It. Was. Glorious.
First, let me say something about the great barrier reef. It is the world’s largest contiguous living organsim (i suppose that could be disputed, but it is massive) stretching over more than a thousand miles. Imagine a reef system, like you see in movies. Now imagine that pretty little reef extending in one form or another from Florida to Maine. Yeah, you could say it’s big. The best parts of the reef are actually quite shallow- most divers are certified to dive starting out to 60 feet- the interesting bits of the reef are usually shallower than 40, and once you get within 20 feet of the surface the brilliance is astounding. Every color of the rainbow (and some I didn’t think were even in it) is represented here. Fish that have no business whatsoever being so beautiful are abundant. You can never tell what will be around the next bend, except more reef, more oppourtunity for exploration. What’s next? clownfish? Maybe giant clams? Perhaps you’ll get lucky and see a green turtle as large as you are, or a white tipped reef shark lurking, aware of you ages before you saw it there. The things we saw were unlike many I have ever seen before. The GBR was an absolute dream to dive.
I won’t regale you with all 11 dives, as that would get tedious and repetetive for both of us. I will recap 8 of the dives, and tell of 3 in a bit more detail. In our dives we saw sharks, giant clams of luminescent colors that boggled the mind (and that were big enough for me to fit in if I was so foolish to try), clownfish and anenome fish that stayed close to their havens, fish of every shape, color, size, and mentality, and coral varieties that were astounding. Three dives in particular stand out. In one, we were at a pinnacle known as “The Whale”. We had a pretty standard dive, with swim throughs (underwater rock tunnels that you swim through; at the end, the entire ocean opens up to you- a very cool experience) and wildlife. As we began our safety stop, we turned around to see a shadow moving behind us- a shade, if you will. As we continued to watch, this gliding form came closer- a giant spotted eagle ray. This enourmous creature, about 7 feet wide, glided right past us, sailing effortlessly, almost as if an ethereal projection of this creature was all in my mind. It was the perfect end to a dive. At the second, we dove a reef known as “Gordon’s”. We dropped in the water around 4:30 pm, and descended onto a proverbial aquarium. The bommie, or pinnacle for non-aussies, became a wall that leveled out at about 6 feet deep. We went up there, and saw... another world. Normally red light gets cut out very rapidly in water, but at 6 feet much of it is still there. I never thought I would see neon in nature, but I did. The colors almost hurt. After continuing on this dive, we descended to a maze of bommies, and got lost. The result was awesome, of course- being lost in a wonderful, unfamiliar place, exploring wherever you want, knowing that all you have to do to get your bearings is look at your compass. We got lucky and found a green turtle about half my size chowing down on some algae- like more turtles we later would see on subsequent dives, this one was not afraid at all of us. We could have touched it if we wanted to, and it was unfazed. It was after this that I witnessed one of the coolest things of the trip: an underwater sunset. The idea of the sun slipping behind these under water towers, teeming with life, and watching the evening sun dance in the water before finally dipping over the horizon is something every diver (and I am tempted to say every human being) should experience. The third dive that I found exceptional was my first night dive ever. As the sun set, we began to gear up and get ready to get wet. The lights from the boat attracted a mass of fish, including sea bass, or some fish similiar to it. The chef began to throw our food scraps form dinner overboard, which of course got the fish excited, and soon more had come. After a few minutes, the school scattered. At first I thought it peculiar, but then I saw why- shark.
The shark was probably a reef shark, though I am not sure. It was larger than I was, but not by alot. It began to circle the school, dipping in every few seconds to try and grab one for dinner. What did we do now that there were sharks at our dive site, where it was too dark to see without a flashlight, and where anything could be lurking in the dark?
Well, we jumped in, of course.
Sharks tend not to like divers. They look funny, taste bad, and are loud, big and noisy in the water. Pretty soon what had come for a snack had left, and we continued the dive. It was eerie, to say the least. Imagine those movies in which a heroic space team embarks on an alien world, where shadow abounds. Strange pillars play with the light, and tones of grey and blue mess with your head. Now imagine instead of walking on this terrain, you are slowly gliding over it. This was my experience. I saw one very large fish, which was about 30 feet above my head- as soon as I illuminated it, it sank away. Except for the fact it was a night dive, this dive was nothing special. However, the aspect of darkness gave a whole new dimension to the water that I can safely say I am now addicted to.
Another thing that made this trip very enjoyable was the people that i met and dove with. Out of the 30 or so divers, i would say at least 25 were 30 or under, with the rest being under 40. The crew was similiarly aged. Most of the people were under 25- right in my age group. Though we were similiar in age, in nationality could not have been more varied. The people on the boat were Canadian, American, Australian, English, French, Irish, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Estonian, and Egyptian. We couldn’t ask for a better trip- the people were fantastic, the ocean was literally as clear as glass, the weather was warm and the sky was clear. I actually spent a night out sleeping on the deck of the ship, with not a light in sight except the vast expanse of the outer spiral arm of the milky way above me. It will be something I will never forget.
After our last day of dives, we went back to port, where we were greeted by a small American navy fleet (an aircraft carrier and about 4 or 5 other ships of various sizes and duties). They flooded Carins. I heard American accents as much as Australian. We checked into a backpacker called the northern greenhouse, at the suggestion of some of the people that dove with us. It was a very cool place to stay- it felt sufficiently bohemian and tropical, almost Jamacian, but it was very nice inside. There was a courtyard with a pool, a free barbeque, free breakfast, linens, a full bathroom and half kitchen in each room, and a very cozy feel, all for a good price. I was very pleased.
That night all of the dive group –and I mean all of them, including the tiny french chef of our boat- gathered together for some dinner and drinks at a place called the rattle and hum. Our night of conversing, laughing, eating and drinking quickly became a night of dancing we decided to go to a local venue. It was one of the best clubbing nights I have ever had. The running joke with the IG is that New Zealand has about 11 songs, and within an hour, you have heard them all. Because the Navy was in town, however, the music was fantastic- every song was a hit, a classic, or at least popular enough to dance to and sing along to. The only two songs I could think of that I didn’t hear were thriller and the eye of the tiger. One thing that I have always, always wanted to hear at a club was Bohemian Rhapsody- and boy, did I get my wish. Imagine 200 people all rocking out, singing to each other as they danced like crazy and shredded on air guitar to their heart’s content: they were totally oblivious to each other, with no shame and nothing held back, because, let’s be honest, everyone else was doing it too. All in all, I guess you could say I quite enjoyed Cairns.
The next day we flew to Sydney to spend a few days. Our flight got in at evening, and as soon as we checked into our backpacker we started exploring. Only a few blocks from our hostel, which incidentally was also right in downtown Sydney, we saw a crowd of people on a street, with police everywhere and cameras even more numerous. We decided to take a detour- boy were we suprised. The crowd was there to see none other than Brüno, live and in the flesh (and in a few other things) at a movie premier for his film of the same name. For those of you not familiar, Brüno is a character played by comedian Sasha Baron Conen, who became internationally famout for his film Borat, where he played a backwards Khazakstani reporter in America. Brüno, on the other hand, is a gay Austrain fashion critic, and this character is used much the same way as Borat, to humiliate the people he interviews for the great entertainment of the world. He is pretty famous, you could say.
So imagine my suprise when I saw Brüno come out of an alleyway with a white hourse, while coated in ridiculously shiny roman style armor, complete with equally shiny silver helmet. I’ll give Cohnen something- when he is in character, he really is. Cohnen was Brüno and nothing else. It was a real treat, especially since our chances of seeing it were completely random and astronomically low.
So, what about Sydney, ask you? Well, I consider Sydney to be my 2nd favorite city in the world, second only to St. Petersburg in Russia. What isn’t there to love? It is a city of 4 million, but it feels like a place a tenth of the size. Don’t get me wrong, Sydeny is huge, but it doesn’t feel like it on the street. It is nice and pleasant; people are nice, they don’t push or yell, taxis actually let you cross- try to think of any other city half the size of New York where cars actually stop for pedestrians when they don’t have to? In a word, Sydney is pleasant. The skyline is stunning, all glass and light. It’s skyscrapers flow, almost like waves or sails on the horizon. They most resemble Seattle of all the cities I have been to, but I would say Sydney even tops this. The Opera house and Harbour bridge are spectacular to behold- the opera house is much larger than people have told me, and literlaly took my breath away the first time i saw it. The water reflects the skyline perfectly, and makes for great photography. The alleyways are all well lit, clean, and safe looking. There are a million ways to get anywhere- up those stairs, throgh that alley, across the street, over the bridge, in between those buildings in a small avenue- the possibilities are endless, which gives the city almost a wonderous feel, as if you are doing urban exporation of sorts. This is what we did the first night.
We slept in the second day, and woke up to head down to Hyde park, located right in the middle of the city. This park is something to behold, let me tell you. In addition to the great architecture and wonderful urban aspects of downtown Sydney, it also has frequent and refreshing green spaces. Hyde park is one of these places, with Eucalyptus trees towering 60 feet overhead into a giant arch that shelters a stone path 30 feet wide, right in the middle of Sydney. It was a joy to walk through. Near the park is a cathedral called St. Mary’s, which I can comfortably say is the most beautiful Catholic Cathedral I have seen outside of Europe. As we went in, I sat down to have a quick prayer, and a bell rung. The patrons rose. We again had impecible timing, and stayed for mass. Afterwards we walked to the botanic gardens, and the art museum of New South Wales. The museum was free, and a good use of the afternoon- there were both contemporary and older works, from both Australia and around the world. The mediums were not limited to paint, either. There was video, audio, and interactive art as well. The fact that all of this was free, and that we were allowed to take photos, and that when we left a random person on the street asked us how we liked it, and told us where to find some more sculpture outside, really is a testament to now nice and friendly australians are.
After the museum we walked through the Botanical Gardens, which included multitudes of wild Cockatoos, Ibis (which are like the pidgeons of Sydney) and trees full of sleeping bats, in addition to one of the rarest plants found in the world, a conifer that was thought to be extinct for 150 million years until it was discovered in the Australian Bush. Another testament to Australia- it is a big place, with few people to explore it. We saw the sun set over the harbor bridge from the Opera house, and then and dined on the roof of a local pub overlooking the skyline. Afterwards we walked to Darling Harbour, and wandered back to the hostel for a good sauna and swim. I guess after the dive trip we were used to being wet.
Wednesday we switched hostels to the Wake up! Hostel only a block from the one we were at the past 2 nights (we couldn’t stay because it was booked). It is listed as the best hostel in oceania: let me say right now, nothing could be further from the truth. We checked in and immediately were struck by that fact that the elevator will not function without your card being swiped, which was perfect considering my card simply refused to read. This really helped contribute to the feel of the entire hostel being a mix of wannabe college fraternity house, google staff headquarters and nazi work camp. We went into our room, which was an 8 share dorm room complete with exactly 1 light and 1 outlet. This is for 8 people, mind you. The absolute worst part of the room (and the hostel in particular) are the intercoms. At random intervals throught the day, the intercoms in EVERY ROOM turn on, to accomodate a booming and annoying voice which of course begins with “wake up, wake up, wake up!”, followed by a list of inane, unfunny and infuriatingly annoying comments having actually nothing to do with my life in relation to this place. When I first heard them, I just stared at my companions and waited for the announcements to cease.
“That is going to get annoying.”
“Yup.”
“Really annoying.”
“Yup.”
Needless to say, we didn’t stay in the room for long.
We spent our day much the same as the day before. We walked to a cafe, had lunch, and continued to the Rocks, where the opera house is located. On our way, we went to the obervatory, a green grassy hill looking over sydney harbor, sitting for an hour or so, writing postcards and enjoying the balmy winter weather (which is something I rarely can say I can do). We walked to the Opera house and tried to get tickets for a show, but one was sold out and the other cancelled for lack of ticket sales. We grabbed some snacks (sushi) and walked to the harbor to catch a ferry to Darling Harbor. The ferry, at $5.20 AUD a ticket, is a nice cheap way to see the harbor. It took us about a half hour to get to Darling Harbor, and our first stop was the maritime museum, which was free admission. It had quite a few interesting artifacts in it, including original pieces from some of Captain Cook’s original voyage. Outside the museum were several ships, including a submarine, a warship of the 20th century, and a recreation (full size) of captain cook’s ship the Endeavour. The ship was quite large, and being the age of sail junkie I am, I naturally wanted to check it out, but it had closed only minutes before. The museum itself was only open until 5 pm, so we only spent about 45 minutes in it. Afterwards we walked back to our hostel. A few days later, we were back in Hamilton, ready to depart on our next adventure, which I will write about in the future.
On Thursday we finally left student village (myself and friends Maggie and Brice). To say it was a sad farewell is a massive understatement. Everyone that I have met and come to love in the past few months is now split- the IG (International Group, as we became known) was about to fracture. Love was shared, good wishes sent. I shook the hand of every one of my wonderful friends, then embraced them. When I leave NZ for good, I will miss the people I have met way more than any bird, mountain or island. Even though I know I will see many of them once more (especially the Kiwis) I know that we most likely will never be together like this again- my hope is that if someone ties the knot, the IG will reconvene; that would be a day to cherish.
The plane trip to Cairns was two flights- Auckland to Sydney to Cairns. It gave me alot of thinking time, and I realized just how deeply and immediately I missed these people already.
After a long day of flight, we dropped into Cairns. I got in a van to go to the hostel, took the window down, and put my head out the whole way. Where Waikato had frost every morning, Cairns had easy, breezy 70 degree weather. I think I like this country.
After sleeping for about 6 hours, we woke up before dawn to get to our dive shop. We would be taking a liveaboard boat to go dive the Great Barrier reef, every marine biologist’s (and diver’s) dream. The boat held over 30 people, 5 or so crew (including a french chef, ooh la la!). We would be doing 11 dives over 3 days- normally, a day long dive trip consists of 2 dives. Our schedule was literally: Wake up pre dawn (5:45 am), Sunrise Dive, Breakfast, Morning Dive, snack, Noon Dive,Lunch, afternoon/ sunset Dive, Dinner, night Dive, Cake. It was tiring, it was repetitive, it was smelly and wet and crowded, and It. Was. Glorious.
First, let me say something about the great barrier reef. It is the world’s largest contiguous living organsim (i suppose that could be disputed, but it is massive) stretching over more than a thousand miles. Imagine a reef system, like you see in movies. Now imagine that pretty little reef extending in one form or another from Florida to Maine. Yeah, you could say it’s big. The best parts of the reef are actually quite shallow- most divers are certified to dive starting out to 60 feet- the interesting bits of the reef are usually shallower than 40, and once you get within 20 feet of the surface the brilliance is astounding. Every color of the rainbow (and some I didn’t think were even in it) is represented here. Fish that have no business whatsoever being so beautiful are abundant. You can never tell what will be around the next bend, except more reef, more oppourtunity for exploration. What’s next? clownfish? Maybe giant clams? Perhaps you’ll get lucky and see a green turtle as large as you are, or a white tipped reef shark lurking, aware of you ages before you saw it there. The things we saw were unlike many I have ever seen before. The GBR was an absolute dream to dive.
I won’t regale you with all 11 dives, as that would get tedious and repetetive for both of us. I will recap 8 of the dives, and tell of 3 in a bit more detail. In our dives we saw sharks, giant clams of luminescent colors that boggled the mind (and that were big enough for me to fit in if I was so foolish to try), clownfish and anenome fish that stayed close to their havens, fish of every shape, color, size, and mentality, and coral varieties that were astounding. Three dives in particular stand out. In one, we were at a pinnacle known as “The Whale”. We had a pretty standard dive, with swim throughs (underwater rock tunnels that you swim through; at the end, the entire ocean opens up to you- a very cool experience) and wildlife. As we began our safety stop, we turned around to see a shadow moving behind us- a shade, if you will. As we continued to watch, this gliding form came closer- a giant spotted eagle ray. This enourmous creature, about 7 feet wide, glided right past us, sailing effortlessly, almost as if an ethereal projection of this creature was all in my mind. It was the perfect end to a dive. At the second, we dove a reef known as “Gordon’s”. We dropped in the water around 4:30 pm, and descended onto a proverbial aquarium. The bommie, or pinnacle for non-aussies, became a wall that leveled out at about 6 feet deep. We went up there, and saw... another world. Normally red light gets cut out very rapidly in water, but at 6 feet much of it is still there. I never thought I would see neon in nature, but I did. The colors almost hurt. After continuing on this dive, we descended to a maze of bommies, and got lost. The result was awesome, of course- being lost in a wonderful, unfamiliar place, exploring wherever you want, knowing that all you have to do to get your bearings is look at your compass. We got lucky and found a green turtle about half my size chowing down on some algae- like more turtles we later would see on subsequent dives, this one was not afraid at all of us. We could have touched it if we wanted to, and it was unfazed. It was after this that I witnessed one of the coolest things of the trip: an underwater sunset. The idea of the sun slipping behind these under water towers, teeming with life, and watching the evening sun dance in the water before finally dipping over the horizon is something every diver (and I am tempted to say every human being) should experience. The third dive that I found exceptional was my first night dive ever. As the sun set, we began to gear up and get ready to get wet. The lights from the boat attracted a mass of fish, including sea bass, or some fish similiar to it. The chef began to throw our food scraps form dinner overboard, which of course got the fish excited, and soon more had come. After a few minutes, the school scattered. At first I thought it peculiar, but then I saw why- shark.
The shark was probably a reef shark, though I am not sure. It was larger than I was, but not by alot. It began to circle the school, dipping in every few seconds to try and grab one for dinner. What did we do now that there were sharks at our dive site, where it was too dark to see without a flashlight, and where anything could be lurking in the dark?
Well, we jumped in, of course.
Sharks tend not to like divers. They look funny, taste bad, and are loud, big and noisy in the water. Pretty soon what had come for a snack had left, and we continued the dive. It was eerie, to say the least. Imagine those movies in which a heroic space team embarks on an alien world, where shadow abounds. Strange pillars play with the light, and tones of grey and blue mess with your head. Now imagine instead of walking on this terrain, you are slowly gliding over it. This was my experience. I saw one very large fish, which was about 30 feet above my head- as soon as I illuminated it, it sank away. Except for the fact it was a night dive, this dive was nothing special. However, the aspect of darkness gave a whole new dimension to the water that I can safely say I am now addicted to.
Another thing that made this trip very enjoyable was the people that i met and dove with. Out of the 30 or so divers, i would say at least 25 were 30 or under, with the rest being under 40. The crew was similiarly aged. Most of the people were under 25- right in my age group. Though we were similiar in age, in nationality could not have been more varied. The people on the boat were Canadian, American, Australian, English, French, Irish, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Estonian, and Egyptian. We couldn’t ask for a better trip- the people were fantastic, the ocean was literally as clear as glass, the weather was warm and the sky was clear. I actually spent a night out sleeping on the deck of the ship, with not a light in sight except the vast expanse of the outer spiral arm of the milky way above me. It will be something I will never forget.
After our last day of dives, we went back to port, where we were greeted by a small American navy fleet (an aircraft carrier and about 4 or 5 other ships of various sizes and duties). They flooded Carins. I heard American accents as much as Australian. We checked into a backpacker called the northern greenhouse, at the suggestion of some of the people that dove with us. It was a very cool place to stay- it felt sufficiently bohemian and tropical, almost Jamacian, but it was very nice inside. There was a courtyard with a pool, a free barbeque, free breakfast, linens, a full bathroom and half kitchen in each room, and a very cozy feel, all for a good price. I was very pleased.
That night all of the dive group –and I mean all of them, including the tiny french chef of our boat- gathered together for some dinner and drinks at a place called the rattle and hum. Our night of conversing, laughing, eating and drinking quickly became a night of dancing we decided to go to a local venue. It was one of the best clubbing nights I have ever had. The running joke with the IG is that New Zealand has about 11 songs, and within an hour, you have heard them all. Because the Navy was in town, however, the music was fantastic- every song was a hit, a classic, or at least popular enough to dance to and sing along to. The only two songs I could think of that I didn’t hear were thriller and the eye of the tiger. One thing that I have always, always wanted to hear at a club was Bohemian Rhapsody- and boy, did I get my wish. Imagine 200 people all rocking out, singing to each other as they danced like crazy and shredded on air guitar to their heart’s content: they were totally oblivious to each other, with no shame and nothing held back, because, let’s be honest, everyone else was doing it too. All in all, I guess you could say I quite enjoyed Cairns.
The next day we flew to Sydney to spend a few days. Our flight got in at evening, and as soon as we checked into our backpacker we started exploring. Only a few blocks from our hostel, which incidentally was also right in downtown Sydney, we saw a crowd of people on a street, with police everywhere and cameras even more numerous. We decided to take a detour- boy were we suprised. The crowd was there to see none other than Brüno, live and in the flesh (and in a few other things) at a movie premier for his film of the same name. For those of you not familiar, Brüno is a character played by comedian Sasha Baron Conen, who became internationally famout for his film Borat, where he played a backwards Khazakstani reporter in America. Brüno, on the other hand, is a gay Austrain fashion critic, and this character is used much the same way as Borat, to humiliate the people he interviews for the great entertainment of the world. He is pretty famous, you could say.
So imagine my suprise when I saw Brüno come out of an alleyway with a white hourse, while coated in ridiculously shiny roman style armor, complete with equally shiny silver helmet. I’ll give Cohnen something- when he is in character, he really is. Cohnen was Brüno and nothing else. It was a real treat, especially since our chances of seeing it were completely random and astronomically low.
So, what about Sydney, ask you? Well, I consider Sydney to be my 2nd favorite city in the world, second only to St. Petersburg in Russia. What isn’t there to love? It is a city of 4 million, but it feels like a place a tenth of the size. Don’t get me wrong, Sydeny is huge, but it doesn’t feel like it on the street. It is nice and pleasant; people are nice, they don’t push or yell, taxis actually let you cross- try to think of any other city half the size of New York where cars actually stop for pedestrians when they don’t have to? In a word, Sydney is pleasant. The skyline is stunning, all glass and light. It’s skyscrapers flow, almost like waves or sails on the horizon. They most resemble Seattle of all the cities I have been to, but I would say Sydney even tops this. The Opera house and Harbour bridge are spectacular to behold- the opera house is much larger than people have told me, and literlaly took my breath away the first time i saw it. The water reflects the skyline perfectly, and makes for great photography. The alleyways are all well lit, clean, and safe looking. There are a million ways to get anywhere- up those stairs, throgh that alley, across the street, over the bridge, in between those buildings in a small avenue- the possibilities are endless, which gives the city almost a wonderous feel, as if you are doing urban exporation of sorts. This is what we did the first night.
We slept in the second day, and woke up to head down to Hyde park, located right in the middle of the city. This park is something to behold, let me tell you. In addition to the great architecture and wonderful urban aspects of downtown Sydney, it also has frequent and refreshing green spaces. Hyde park is one of these places, with Eucalyptus trees towering 60 feet overhead into a giant arch that shelters a stone path 30 feet wide, right in the middle of Sydney. It was a joy to walk through. Near the park is a cathedral called St. Mary’s, which I can comfortably say is the most beautiful Catholic Cathedral I have seen outside of Europe. As we went in, I sat down to have a quick prayer, and a bell rung. The patrons rose. We again had impecible timing, and stayed for mass. Afterwards we walked to the botanic gardens, and the art museum of New South Wales. The museum was free, and a good use of the afternoon- there were both contemporary and older works, from both Australia and around the world. The mediums were not limited to paint, either. There was video, audio, and interactive art as well. The fact that all of this was free, and that we were allowed to take photos, and that when we left a random person on the street asked us how we liked it, and told us where to find some more sculpture outside, really is a testament to now nice and friendly australians are.
After the museum we walked through the Botanical Gardens, which included multitudes of wild Cockatoos, Ibis (which are like the pidgeons of Sydney) and trees full of sleeping bats, in addition to one of the rarest plants found in the world, a conifer that was thought to be extinct for 150 million years until it was discovered in the Australian Bush. Another testament to Australia- it is a big place, with few people to explore it. We saw the sun set over the harbor bridge from the Opera house, and then and dined on the roof of a local pub overlooking the skyline. Afterwards we walked to Darling Harbour, and wandered back to the hostel for a good sauna and swim. I guess after the dive trip we were used to being wet.
Wednesday we switched hostels to the Wake up! Hostel only a block from the one we were at the past 2 nights (we couldn’t stay because it was booked). It is listed as the best hostel in oceania: let me say right now, nothing could be further from the truth. We checked in and immediately were struck by that fact that the elevator will not function without your card being swiped, which was perfect considering my card simply refused to read. This really helped contribute to the feel of the entire hostel being a mix of wannabe college fraternity house, google staff headquarters and nazi work camp. We went into our room, which was an 8 share dorm room complete with exactly 1 light and 1 outlet. This is for 8 people, mind you. The absolute worst part of the room (and the hostel in particular) are the intercoms. At random intervals throught the day, the intercoms in EVERY ROOM turn on, to accomodate a booming and annoying voice which of course begins with “wake up, wake up, wake up!”, followed by a list of inane, unfunny and infuriatingly annoying comments having actually nothing to do with my life in relation to this place. When I first heard them, I just stared at my companions and waited for the announcements to cease.
“That is going to get annoying.”
“Yup.”
“Really annoying.”
“Yup.”
Needless to say, we didn’t stay in the room for long.
We spent our day much the same as the day before. We walked to a cafe, had lunch, and continued to the Rocks, where the opera house is located. On our way, we went to the obervatory, a green grassy hill looking over sydney harbor, sitting for an hour or so, writing postcards and enjoying the balmy winter weather (which is something I rarely can say I can do). We walked to the Opera house and tried to get tickets for a show, but one was sold out and the other cancelled for lack of ticket sales. We grabbed some snacks (sushi) and walked to the harbor to catch a ferry to Darling Harbor. The ferry, at $5.20 AUD a ticket, is a nice cheap way to see the harbor. It took us about a half hour to get to Darling Harbor, and our first stop was the maritime museum, which was free admission. It had quite a few interesting artifacts in it, including original pieces from some of Captain Cook’s original voyage. Outside the museum were several ships, including a submarine, a warship of the 20th century, and a recreation (full size) of captain cook’s ship the Endeavour. The ship was quite large, and being the age of sail junkie I am, I naturally wanted to check it out, but it had closed only minutes before. The museum itself was only open until 5 pm, so we only spent about 45 minutes in it. Afterwards we walked back to our hostel. A few days later, we were back in Hamilton, ready to depart on our next adventure, which I will write about in the future.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Days 112-118
This week has been one of few distractions or events. Sunday I had a small get together officially for my birthday- it included a meal at the only Mexican restaurant in Hamilton (which was down a dark alley- it looked like every free meal would come with a complimentary mugging). The meal was great- and though it took much longer to make and was more expensive than it would be at home, I didn’t mind. I was surrounded by friends whom I loved and cared about, and likewise cared about me. While I was basking in this social happiness, I closed my eyes, and everything felt fundamentally right. I felt as if everything had aligned, and I was simultaneously reliving my past and embarking on an exciting new adventure. In a word, I could close my eyes and feel like I was home. Home. What a concept. Is it where we live, or where we are happiest? Can home really be constrained to a physical location, or is it something more? Is it a mental state inside ourselves? Is our true home our soul? Is home a house, a family, a familiar scent or breeze of wind, or is home a table halfway around the world, full of friends sharing jokes and letting laughter seep out into the cold night air? I can’t tell you. Perhaps home is something we each need to define for ourselves, but on Sunday, I could tell you exactly what home was for me. I could close those eyes and be home. I could be whenever I wanted, any time I desired- I could be last Christmas, or a hot day in July, or the first day of school. I could be at thanksgiving dinner or mother’s day. Maybe what I shared was just that feeling of intense… correctness, the knowledge that this is one of those fragrant life moments that I can look back on for years to come and never forget. Perhaps that is what links all of those memories I have when I close my eyes. Perhaps that is home.
I’ll get off my philosophical pedestal now.
The few days to follow were filled with little of importance. I have no exams until the 24th, which means studying before the 14th would be useless- I need to keep a constant flow of information going through my head in order to be effective, and I think that 10 days for 2 exams is already more than enough time. The week has been filled with sleep ins, trip planning, and relaxation. One could say I am mentally preparing for my soon to be stressful endeavor.
One thing I did do was visit the Hamilton gardens with a really good friend of mine, Anna. The Hamilton gardens are a collection of gardens in styles from around the world. There is a Japanese garden, an English garden, a Chinese garden, an American garden (which looked like someone vomited new age pop art over a block of downtown inner city Newark that had been abandoned for 40 years), an Italian/Greco garden, and an Indian garden. There were also a few other gardens (including a Maori garden, which was literally a pile of dirt. It made the American garden look like someone committed new age pop art over a block of lush, downtown San Francisco. Anna and I walked around, and I marked each garden on overall coolness, tranquility, beauty, originality, thematic elements, etc. The winner was the Indian garden (which was a large courtyard with 4 quadrants of flowers, with the Greco and Chinese gardens tying for 2nd place (the Chinese garden had an awesome hobbit hole type thing). Anna and I then walked to the river and had a good deep conversation until I could no longer feel my hands. Few things make me as happy at the end of a day than a really deep, meaningful and rewarding conversation with a friend.
I also took an evening and walk around the campus with a friend of mine to do some urban exploration- going to areas you normally wouldn’t think of. We walked up outer staircases on one of the blocks just to see the view- something I normally would not do, but I realized how beautiful the view is at night. Half the campus can be seen just from that one spot. The entire idea is to get a new perspective on things, a new viewpoint. We walked around for a few hours, until early morning, and it was great. This is a friend I normally don’t get much time to talk to, and it sure beat the pants off of sitting down and watching a movie, being antisocial.
The week has also been filled with a game I know I have described before, called ‘Who am I?’. The rules are simple. Each person chooses a famous person, Ex. Albert Einstein. I write his name on a sheet of paper, and give it to the person on my left. They stick the paper to their forehead- now everyone can see who they are except them. You can only ask yes or know questions to figure out who you are, and the questions go to the next person when one of your questions is answered as ‘no’. Example:
Am I am man? Yes.
Am I European born? Yes.
Am I Dead? Yes.
Was I known for music? No.
(goes on to next person). First person to figure out their person wins!
This game is incredibly simple but addictive- it is exceptionally fun and can get very challenging. People get very heated when they can’t think of who they are, and we often find ourselves saying ‘just one more game’. One night we played for 5 hours.
So, as you can see, my life here the past week has been fairly low key. If the weather was better or I was better equipped, I would travel, but circumstances just weren’t great for it. I will be traveling starting the 25th, all the way until the 31st of July, when I fly out.
I can’t help but think that after everything I have been through here, I am going to go home, sit down on my bed, and look at all of this as I would a dream. An entire semester, half a year, around the world, and I have come right back where I began. I already know it will be a powerful and surreal experience- but I also know I’ll come back some day, here to these islands. A seed has been planted- I can’t stay away.
P.S. A small update on swine flu. Level 6 pandemic level has been reached. The Waikato region of NZ has been affected, but minorly. I know that New Hanover county, where UNCW (my home university) is situated, has also had cases. Apparently if the infection makes it’s way into the halls here at Uni of Waikato, the containment procedures are fairly extreme- the uni shuts down, domestic students are sent home, internationals stay and are cooked frozen meals until it blows over. This is not an official statement, but I heard it from a source I consider reliable. I imagine it will only be a matter of time before the university gets hit- whether I am here or not, who knows. Apparently estimates in the newspaper today expect 50% of the nation’s population to get the virus in the next 2 years. It is pretty incredible how quickly information travels and situations can develop. 30,000 cases, 74 countries. That’s pretty impressive.
I’ll get off my philosophical pedestal now.
The few days to follow were filled with little of importance. I have no exams until the 24th, which means studying before the 14th would be useless- I need to keep a constant flow of information going through my head in order to be effective, and I think that 10 days for 2 exams is already more than enough time. The week has been filled with sleep ins, trip planning, and relaxation. One could say I am mentally preparing for my soon to be stressful endeavor.
One thing I did do was visit the Hamilton gardens with a really good friend of mine, Anna. The Hamilton gardens are a collection of gardens in styles from around the world. There is a Japanese garden, an English garden, a Chinese garden, an American garden (which looked like someone vomited new age pop art over a block of downtown inner city Newark that had been abandoned for 40 years), an Italian/Greco garden, and an Indian garden. There were also a few other gardens (including a Maori garden, which was literally a pile of dirt. It made the American garden look like someone committed new age pop art over a block of lush, downtown San Francisco. Anna and I walked around, and I marked each garden on overall coolness, tranquility, beauty, originality, thematic elements, etc. The winner was the Indian garden (which was a large courtyard with 4 quadrants of flowers, with the Greco and Chinese gardens tying for 2nd place (the Chinese garden had an awesome hobbit hole type thing). Anna and I then walked to the river and had a good deep conversation until I could no longer feel my hands. Few things make me as happy at the end of a day than a really deep, meaningful and rewarding conversation with a friend.
I also took an evening and walk around the campus with a friend of mine to do some urban exploration- going to areas you normally wouldn’t think of. We walked up outer staircases on one of the blocks just to see the view- something I normally would not do, but I realized how beautiful the view is at night. Half the campus can be seen just from that one spot. The entire idea is to get a new perspective on things, a new viewpoint. We walked around for a few hours, until early morning, and it was great. This is a friend I normally don’t get much time to talk to, and it sure beat the pants off of sitting down and watching a movie, being antisocial.
The week has also been filled with a game I know I have described before, called ‘Who am I?’. The rules are simple. Each person chooses a famous person, Ex. Albert Einstein. I write his name on a sheet of paper, and give it to the person on my left. They stick the paper to their forehead- now everyone can see who they are except them. You can only ask yes or know questions to figure out who you are, and the questions go to the next person when one of your questions is answered as ‘no’. Example:
Am I am man? Yes.
Am I European born? Yes.
Am I Dead? Yes.
Was I known for music? No.
(goes on to next person). First person to figure out their person wins!
This game is incredibly simple but addictive- it is exceptionally fun and can get very challenging. People get very heated when they can’t think of who they are, and we often find ourselves saying ‘just one more game’. One night we played for 5 hours.
So, as you can see, my life here the past week has been fairly low key. If the weather was better or I was better equipped, I would travel, but circumstances just weren’t great for it. I will be traveling starting the 25th, all the way until the 31st of July, when I fly out.
I can’t help but think that after everything I have been through here, I am going to go home, sit down on my bed, and look at all of this as I would a dream. An entire semester, half a year, around the world, and I have come right back where I began. I already know it will be a powerful and surreal experience- but I also know I’ll come back some day, here to these islands. A seed has been planted- I can’t stay away.
P.S. A small update on swine flu. Level 6 pandemic level has been reached. The Waikato region of NZ has been affected, but minorly. I know that New Hanover county, where UNCW (my home university) is situated, has also had cases. Apparently if the infection makes it’s way into the halls here at Uni of Waikato, the containment procedures are fairly extreme- the uni shuts down, domestic students are sent home, internationals stay and are cooked frozen meals until it blows over. This is not an official statement, but I heard it from a source I consider reliable. I imagine it will only be a matter of time before the university gets hit- whether I am here or not, who knows. Apparently estimates in the newspaper today expect 50% of the nation’s population to get the virus in the next 2 years. It is pretty incredible how quickly information travels and situations can develop. 30,000 cases, 74 countries. That’s pretty impressive.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Days 105-111: Birthday Week
So this past week was my birthday week! It wasn’t wild or crazy, but it was kind of busy. Allow me to elaborate:
The first part of the week was mainly working on assignments- My photography exhibition was on Thursday, so I spent a good deal of time scanning my physical prints in, digitizing them, and perfecting them in photoshop. I then got them printed out (A3 prints, 11 by 16 inches, in high quality full color for 60 cents each? Yes please!) and mounted. Our last class day was spent sipping champagne and listening to classical music, reminiscing about deadlines and stressing out. Liquor ban, eat your heart out. It was one of the best last days of class I have had.
Wednesday was my birthday! It was naturally preceded by Tuesday, which was not my birthday. It was on Tuesday I got my first birthday gift, from my good friend Anna. Anna is an interesting friend of mine- she is an RA, and thus is very responsible. In order to balance out her maturity, she often acts very childish, tapping people on the opposite shoulder to get them to look the wrong way and engaging in fanciful waves from great distances. Naturally, she got me a very childish gift in order to balance out my coming of age. I got a knock on my door right after midnight (my first technical minutes as a 21 year old), and had a gift shoved in my hand. Inside were two things: A set of cling- on pirate stickers (currently sticking to my windows and mirrors in my room) and a small wooden model pirate ship (ages 5+). Naturally, I was ecstatic. I played with the stickers and talked to Anna for hours (a naturally unhealthy habit that keeps me up until sunrise on some mornings) and finally went to sleep.
I woke up on my birthday to more gifts. I won’t go into them all, but they included a lot of chocolate, Guinness (YES), a small yard glass, a box of 30 ice cream cones (from a lactose-intolerant German girl, go figure) and other random bits and pieces, including some very nice cards. My Canadian friend gave me sunshine for the day- the weather could not have been nicer. I spent the day relaxing, staying in a hammock, not doing a whole heck of a lot, and loving it. That night a few friends and I went to an Irish pub we had hit up months before- it has a real pub atmosphere, and we were naturally the only students there. After a few rounds (all the good stuff, Guinness, cider, and Speight’s, a local NZ brand), we went to the bakehouse, a 24-7 bakery, and got some good eats. My birthday was low key and very enjoyable.
Thursday was a surprising day- normally it is my hardest, with class all day. Today, however, it was short with only 1 hour of class. I used this to my advantage to sleep in on my birthday. Oh yeah, it was still my birthday. One of the perk of living halfway around the world is that when you have your birthday, it starts on your time and ends at your home time. So, while I may not have had a massive thrashing party with dancing girls and beer kegs, I did have 40 hours of relaxation and enjoyment. I worked on some assignments, but otherwise didn’t have a terribly eventful day.
Friday likewise was less than… monumental. The three perks of the day were getting an assignment back (A+), hanging out on a stoop, and going to physio. At physiotherapy, to make my appointment time I had to run. Those of you who know me know that I have never been able to run a mile- my foot drops and I fall. I was astonished to not have this impending feeling of doom as I ran, that my foot was about to fall. I eventually did reach physio on time, and instantly told Jill, my physiotherapist. She told me to try and run a mile when I got back, so I did.
For the first time in my life, I ran a mile. The feeling was exhilarating. I decided that instead of doing cross training anymore, I would do running instead. The next day I ran an 8 minute mile (pretty good, considering that my last best time for a mile was in the 10th grade at 13 or 14 minutes). I decided to run 2 in a row, taking exactly 16 minutes. I have no clue where this falls on the fitness scale, but it was exciting. Have I found a passion I have thought so many others crazy for holding? Time will tell, I guess. For now though, the prescription from the physio is to keep it up, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.
My third good thing about the day was me sitting on a stoop with friends for over an hour, just hanging outside for no good reason. I felt like a city kid.
Friday was the engineering boat race- engineering students have been working on boats all semester, and it took place at the pond on campus. Both costumes and large crates of beer were encouraged. What did I do? I dressed up as a pirate. Naturally. I and a friend of mine dressed up, brought large sticks, and had swordfights on the opposite side of the lake in between races. It was totally juvenile and lots of fun.
Saturday included little except a visit to an art gallery showing scale models of Leonardo Da Vinci’s most famous inventions, including flying machines, war machines, and more (not to mention the first bicycle). The genius of the man is astonishing. Later that night me and Bryce went out to do some light graffiti, where one takes a long exposure picture of a subject, and then by manipulating light sources, is able to create an image similar to graffiti without damaging property. We spent most of the night walking around town, but did get a few cool shots near some abandoned buildings and in a graveyard. After a ton of walking we called it a night.
The first part of the week was mainly working on assignments- My photography exhibition was on Thursday, so I spent a good deal of time scanning my physical prints in, digitizing them, and perfecting them in photoshop. I then got them printed out (A3 prints, 11 by 16 inches, in high quality full color for 60 cents each? Yes please!) and mounted. Our last class day was spent sipping champagne and listening to classical music, reminiscing about deadlines and stressing out. Liquor ban, eat your heart out. It was one of the best last days of class I have had.
Wednesday was my birthday! It was naturally preceded by Tuesday, which was not my birthday. It was on Tuesday I got my first birthday gift, from my good friend Anna. Anna is an interesting friend of mine- she is an RA, and thus is very responsible. In order to balance out her maturity, she often acts very childish, tapping people on the opposite shoulder to get them to look the wrong way and engaging in fanciful waves from great distances. Naturally, she got me a very childish gift in order to balance out my coming of age. I got a knock on my door right after midnight (my first technical minutes as a 21 year old), and had a gift shoved in my hand. Inside were two things: A set of cling- on pirate stickers (currently sticking to my windows and mirrors in my room) and a small wooden model pirate ship (ages 5+). Naturally, I was ecstatic. I played with the stickers and talked to Anna for hours (a naturally unhealthy habit that keeps me up until sunrise on some mornings) and finally went to sleep.
I woke up on my birthday to more gifts. I won’t go into them all, but they included a lot of chocolate, Guinness (YES), a small yard glass, a box of 30 ice cream cones (from a lactose-intolerant German girl, go figure) and other random bits and pieces, including some very nice cards. My Canadian friend gave me sunshine for the day- the weather could not have been nicer. I spent the day relaxing, staying in a hammock, not doing a whole heck of a lot, and loving it. That night a few friends and I went to an Irish pub we had hit up months before- it has a real pub atmosphere, and we were naturally the only students there. After a few rounds (all the good stuff, Guinness, cider, and Speight’s, a local NZ brand), we went to the bakehouse, a 24-7 bakery, and got some good eats. My birthday was low key and very enjoyable.
Thursday was a surprising day- normally it is my hardest, with class all day. Today, however, it was short with only 1 hour of class. I used this to my advantage to sleep in on my birthday. Oh yeah, it was still my birthday. One of the perk of living halfway around the world is that when you have your birthday, it starts on your time and ends at your home time. So, while I may not have had a massive thrashing party with dancing girls and beer kegs, I did have 40 hours of relaxation and enjoyment. I worked on some assignments, but otherwise didn’t have a terribly eventful day.
Friday likewise was less than… monumental. The three perks of the day were getting an assignment back (A+), hanging out on a stoop, and going to physio. At physiotherapy, to make my appointment time I had to run. Those of you who know me know that I have never been able to run a mile- my foot drops and I fall. I was astonished to not have this impending feeling of doom as I ran, that my foot was about to fall. I eventually did reach physio on time, and instantly told Jill, my physiotherapist. She told me to try and run a mile when I got back, so I did.
For the first time in my life, I ran a mile. The feeling was exhilarating. I decided that instead of doing cross training anymore, I would do running instead. The next day I ran an 8 minute mile (pretty good, considering that my last best time for a mile was in the 10th grade at 13 or 14 minutes). I decided to run 2 in a row, taking exactly 16 minutes. I have no clue where this falls on the fitness scale, but it was exciting. Have I found a passion I have thought so many others crazy for holding? Time will tell, I guess. For now though, the prescription from the physio is to keep it up, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.
My third good thing about the day was me sitting on a stoop with friends for over an hour, just hanging outside for no good reason. I felt like a city kid.
Friday was the engineering boat race- engineering students have been working on boats all semester, and it took place at the pond on campus. Both costumes and large crates of beer were encouraged. What did I do? I dressed up as a pirate. Naturally. I and a friend of mine dressed up, brought large sticks, and had swordfights on the opposite side of the lake in between races. It was totally juvenile and lots of fun.
Saturday included little except a visit to an art gallery showing scale models of Leonardo Da Vinci’s most famous inventions, including flying machines, war machines, and more (not to mention the first bicycle). The genius of the man is astonishing. Later that night me and Bryce went out to do some light graffiti, where one takes a long exposure picture of a subject, and then by manipulating light sources, is able to create an image similar to graffiti without damaging property. We spent most of the night walking around town, but did get a few cool shots near some abandoned buildings and in a graveyard. After a ton of walking we called it a night.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Days 96-104: Enter Witty Title Here
I have an excuse for why I haven’t updated- classes are about to be over, and I had such an awesome weekend that I wanted to do it justice with a real post, not a pansy half post. Real posts, however, take time.
On Friday me and my dive mates went with the uni scuba club up to Tutukaka, up in the bay of Islands region of New Zealand. It was about a 5-6 hour trip up through Auckland. There were green hills and lush grass, as through all of Waikato. We got there and settled into our accommodation, which was a 12 person bunk cabin. We made dinner and went to the local place to watch the rugby game- Waikato Chiefs (yeah!) versus the Wellington Hurricanes. It was the first rugby game I had ever watched, and it was intense. The temperature was about freezing point, so when the teams fought for the ball (the scrum) the steam from them collectively rose as if the field was on fire. These ethereal ghosts wisped away as the plays continued. With 3 or so minutes to go, the Hurricanes had the ball and were only 5 meters or so from scoring, and that score would give them the lead. A fogbank rolled in instantly- within 20 seconds the field went from totally clear to so obscured that the only people who could see the game were the players actually playing it. The cameras couldn’t see anything, nor could the fans. The game was broadcast from a camera on the field. The Chiefs won- they will play in the finals in South Africa for the first time ever.
Saturday we had our first dive. The site we were diving is known as the Poor Knights Islands, and they have an awesome history. Allow me to enlighten you.
The first picture of me diving ever!
In 1823, the Maori chief of the tribe living on the islands decided to join other chiefs and their warriors to fight a war in the Waikato area. The chief and all the warriors left, while the women, children and elderly stayed behind. A slave from a neighboring mainland tribe was able to steal a canoe and escape during this time. He paddled the 22km to the mainland, and alerted his tribe how he had been mistreated, and how easy it would be to take the islands. The tribe attacked the Poor Knights Islands, slaughtering everyone except for the Chief’s wife and son, who were taken into slavery. The chief, upon return, saw the destruction and declared the islands sacred. It has been illegal to touch foot on them ever since. No one has lived there in almost 200 years.
Our first dive of the day was a series of underwater pinnacles (rock columns) called Trevor’s rock. The area was covered in kelp, clear blue water, nudibranchs, scorpionfish, moray eels, and tons of other organisms I won’t bore you with.
We swam under submarine arches, relaxed on the bottom, and had an awesome dive. The second dive of the day was called meditation wall, and I see why- it was colorful, full of life, and totally serene. There was even an undersea cave, but I did not enter- I don’t like overhead environments, and so I won’t dive in them.
Our second dive took us to the best dive spot on the Poor knights, and often considered the best dive in New Zealand- northern arch. The northern arch is an archway that is perhaps 10 meters across at the surface, but once you go underwater a few meters, the arch flares out to become much wider. It was breathtaking, literally. So literally, in fact, that one of our group had to surface without stopping to decompress because he used up air too quickly- as a result, we didn’t get to spend much time in the arch at all. It was astounding what I did see, however.
Our last dive was called Ann’s rock, and it was another undersea pinnacle. This time, we descended to 18 meters (60 feet) and began a spiral ascent, seeing everything that grew on the walls of the pinnacle. It is here that I, for the first time ever, got to handle an underwater video camera. The following is what you would have seen if you were me on Ann’s rock.
In some of the shots the fish look as if they are moving down and the entire shot looks like it is on its side, but it is not. Ann's Rock is an almost vertical surface, but it looks horizontal. The shots of nothing but blue are looking straight down- we couldn't see the ocean floor.
After the 4th dive, we visited Riko Riko cave, the largest sea cave in the world, at 8 million cubic feet. The boat easily fit inside the cave. It receives almost no direct sunlight- all light is reflected from the water into the cave, resulting in ferns that grow and hang from the ceilings. The water is crystal blue, the cave walls are every color of the rainbow, and they are filled with glowworms. Bands have played here, Maori have done haka here, Japanese submarines have repaired here, even a man brought submersible speakers here and played music- just to watch the dolphins come in and swim to it. The acoustics are fantastic. I want to be there now instead of writing this.
The cave photos were taken by me. The undersea photography was done by Brice (AKA Frenchie), my dive buddy. The underwater video was all my work.
Needless to say, the trip was… unforgettable.
Sunday night we made dinner and called it an early night. We got up at 5 or 6 am on Monday to make the half day trek back to Hamilton. When we returned we got unpacked and I went to class. The leaves falling and the scent of autumn in the air, combined with my supreme feeling of rightness, reminded me of when I was at NCSSM junior year, when all felt right. I love that sensation- it makes me strangely and happily nostalgic. Monday carried this feeling with it.
Tuesday was another good day- I got my photography assignment back, and I was given an A+. I worked long nights, weekends and lunch periods in the chemical soaked darkroom to get these assignments and shots exactly how I wanted them. I sacrificed time with friends and sleep to make them perfect. I wanted that A+, and I totally earned it. I felt like I was walking on air when I left that class. The rest of Tuesday was good as well.
Wednesday was filled with work, but not much else. Thursday was also filled with assignments and labs, and also was the day I took my SCUBA rescue diver certification test. I needed an 88 to pass, and luckily soared on by with a 92. All I need to do now is fill out some paperwork and get my first aid class in, and I will be golden! We went out to town on Thusrday, and we had a good time dancing- but due to my back acting up, I took off fairly early and went to bed.
Friday I went to physiotherapy (where I learned that I am likely going to have to do daily stretches and exercises the rest of my life to keep my back from shutting down). I then proceeded to spend 2 hours in a studio doing a photo shoot for a friend of mine- this was not for any classes or anything else- it is just good practice for me, and good pictures for my friend. I really, really enjoyed it, and I think this is a good sign in my steps to becoming better at photographing people. This experience is important for me. After the photoshoot, Fabian, Jens and I went out for a drink and some appetizers at a local place called Iguana. The music was awesome, the food delicious, and the atmosphere perfect. It was classy yet relaxed, a place where you could dress up if you wanted to, but you didn’t have to. One thing I have noticed here (and this is one of a very long list) is that it is quite a bit more expensive to eat out here than it is back home. I can count the amount of times I have eaten out while here in New Zealand on one hand- most of that is because my meals are covered by the cantine, but it also is because New Zealanders cook a lot more here than we Americans do back home. In fact, I know a few chefs that I have met here, who cook amazing dishes just to do it. I miss the food from home, but It is a paltry thing to long for in the midst of so much beauty here. Friday night I spent up staying up way too late hanging out with an RA I know. I love the RA’s here because they know that us internationals aren’t first year students- they know that we (for the most part) are responsible and mature, and thus they treat us as such. I am happy to say that many of the RA’s in Student Village have also become awesome, awesome friends of mine.
Saturday I woke up early and went with my German friend Jens (from the South Island trip) and we went to the local market here in Hamilton. In this market are local stands filled with all sorts of things- the entire market had a heavily Maori influence- me and Jens were definitely in the minority, and it was really cool. I actually have come to really love the Maori culture, and I feel that I am beginning to understand some of the contemporary issues that surround it; nonetheless, I love the Maoris I have met and know they will stay good friends for a long time.
The stands had anything from food, to groceries, to clothing, to toys, to bone and greenstone carvings. Jens and I easily spent 2 hours (and a good chunk of change, we left when he was broke) at this market, and I would happily go back, just to look at the work again. Most of the stuff was really reasonably priced, and I got a few good deals… but you will just have to wait until I return to see what I got!
Saturday afternoon was spent watching movies (as it was a rainy day and I had tons of work to do). I generally do not like watching movies here- I feel I am wasting my time- but sometimes one gets so tired and lazy during a rainy day that a movie seems the best way to relax. We watched Slumdog Millionaire, and it was a really good movie. At least twice, the tension was so palpable that I could feel my heart racing, with me and Zia shouting at the screen. That’s a good sign of an awesome movie, I’d say. After the movie we had dinner, and I proceeded to spend the rest of the day just veggin’ out, doing nothing but hanging out with friends, just like I used to do before life seemed to get so hectic. I, of course, got nothing done, but it was everything I needed and thought it could be.
On Friday me and my dive mates went with the uni scuba club up to Tutukaka, up in the bay of Islands region of New Zealand. It was about a 5-6 hour trip up through Auckland. There were green hills and lush grass, as through all of Waikato. We got there and settled into our accommodation, which was a 12 person bunk cabin. We made dinner and went to the local place to watch the rugby game- Waikato Chiefs (yeah!) versus the Wellington Hurricanes. It was the first rugby game I had ever watched, and it was intense. The temperature was about freezing point, so when the teams fought for the ball (the scrum) the steam from them collectively rose as if the field was on fire. These ethereal ghosts wisped away as the plays continued. With 3 or so minutes to go, the Hurricanes had the ball and were only 5 meters or so from scoring, and that score would give them the lead. A fogbank rolled in instantly- within 20 seconds the field went from totally clear to so obscured that the only people who could see the game were the players actually playing it. The cameras couldn’t see anything, nor could the fans. The game was broadcast from a camera on the field. The Chiefs won- they will play in the finals in South Africa for the first time ever.
Saturday we had our first dive. The site we were diving is known as the Poor Knights Islands, and they have an awesome history. Allow me to enlighten you.
The first picture of me diving ever!
In 1823, the Maori chief of the tribe living on the islands decided to join other chiefs and their warriors to fight a war in the Waikato area. The chief and all the warriors left, while the women, children and elderly stayed behind. A slave from a neighboring mainland tribe was able to steal a canoe and escape during this time. He paddled the 22km to the mainland, and alerted his tribe how he had been mistreated, and how easy it would be to take the islands. The tribe attacked the Poor Knights Islands, slaughtering everyone except for the Chief’s wife and son, who were taken into slavery. The chief, upon return, saw the destruction and declared the islands sacred. It has been illegal to touch foot on them ever since. No one has lived there in almost 200 years.
Our first dive of the day was a series of underwater pinnacles (rock columns) called Trevor’s rock. The area was covered in kelp, clear blue water, nudibranchs, scorpionfish, moray eels, and tons of other organisms I won’t bore you with.
We swam under submarine arches, relaxed on the bottom, and had an awesome dive. The second dive of the day was called meditation wall, and I see why- it was colorful, full of life, and totally serene. There was even an undersea cave, but I did not enter- I don’t like overhead environments, and so I won’t dive in them.
Our second dive took us to the best dive spot on the Poor knights, and often considered the best dive in New Zealand- northern arch. The northern arch is an archway that is perhaps 10 meters across at the surface, but once you go underwater a few meters, the arch flares out to become much wider. It was breathtaking, literally. So literally, in fact, that one of our group had to surface without stopping to decompress because he used up air too quickly- as a result, we didn’t get to spend much time in the arch at all. It was astounding what I did see, however.
Our last dive was called Ann’s rock, and it was another undersea pinnacle. This time, we descended to 18 meters (60 feet) and began a spiral ascent, seeing everything that grew on the walls of the pinnacle. It is here that I, for the first time ever, got to handle an underwater video camera. The following is what you would have seen if you were me on Ann’s rock.
In some of the shots the fish look as if they are moving down and the entire shot looks like it is on its side, but it is not. Ann's Rock is an almost vertical surface, but it looks horizontal. The shots of nothing but blue are looking straight down- we couldn't see the ocean floor.
After the 4th dive, we visited Riko Riko cave, the largest sea cave in the world, at 8 million cubic feet. The boat easily fit inside the cave. It receives almost no direct sunlight- all light is reflected from the water into the cave, resulting in ferns that grow and hang from the ceilings. The water is crystal blue, the cave walls are every color of the rainbow, and they are filled with glowworms. Bands have played here, Maori have done haka here, Japanese submarines have repaired here, even a man brought submersible speakers here and played music- just to watch the dolphins come in and swim to it. The acoustics are fantastic. I want to be there now instead of writing this.
The cave photos were taken by me. The undersea photography was done by Brice (AKA Frenchie), my dive buddy. The underwater video was all my work.
Needless to say, the trip was… unforgettable.
Sunday night we made dinner and called it an early night. We got up at 5 or 6 am on Monday to make the half day trek back to Hamilton. When we returned we got unpacked and I went to class. The leaves falling and the scent of autumn in the air, combined with my supreme feeling of rightness, reminded me of when I was at NCSSM junior year, when all felt right. I love that sensation- it makes me strangely and happily nostalgic. Monday carried this feeling with it.
Tuesday was another good day- I got my photography assignment back, and I was given an A+. I worked long nights, weekends and lunch periods in the chemical soaked darkroom to get these assignments and shots exactly how I wanted them. I sacrificed time with friends and sleep to make them perfect. I wanted that A+, and I totally earned it. I felt like I was walking on air when I left that class. The rest of Tuesday was good as well.
Wednesday was filled with work, but not much else. Thursday was also filled with assignments and labs, and also was the day I took my SCUBA rescue diver certification test. I needed an 88 to pass, and luckily soared on by with a 92. All I need to do now is fill out some paperwork and get my first aid class in, and I will be golden! We went out to town on Thusrday, and we had a good time dancing- but due to my back acting up, I took off fairly early and went to bed.
Friday I went to physiotherapy (where I learned that I am likely going to have to do daily stretches and exercises the rest of my life to keep my back from shutting down). I then proceeded to spend 2 hours in a studio doing a photo shoot for a friend of mine- this was not for any classes or anything else- it is just good practice for me, and good pictures for my friend. I really, really enjoyed it, and I think this is a good sign in my steps to becoming better at photographing people. This experience is important for me. After the photoshoot, Fabian, Jens and I went out for a drink and some appetizers at a local place called Iguana. The music was awesome, the food delicious, and the atmosphere perfect. It was classy yet relaxed, a place where you could dress up if you wanted to, but you didn’t have to. One thing I have noticed here (and this is one of a very long list) is that it is quite a bit more expensive to eat out here than it is back home. I can count the amount of times I have eaten out while here in New Zealand on one hand- most of that is because my meals are covered by the cantine, but it also is because New Zealanders cook a lot more here than we Americans do back home. In fact, I know a few chefs that I have met here, who cook amazing dishes just to do it. I miss the food from home, but It is a paltry thing to long for in the midst of so much beauty here. Friday night I spent up staying up way too late hanging out with an RA I know. I love the RA’s here because they know that us internationals aren’t first year students- they know that we (for the most part) are responsible and mature, and thus they treat us as such. I am happy to say that many of the RA’s in Student Village have also become awesome, awesome friends of mine.
Saturday I woke up early and went with my German friend Jens (from the South Island trip) and we went to the local market here in Hamilton. In this market are local stands filled with all sorts of things- the entire market had a heavily Maori influence- me and Jens were definitely in the minority, and it was really cool. I actually have come to really love the Maori culture, and I feel that I am beginning to understand some of the contemporary issues that surround it; nonetheless, I love the Maoris I have met and know they will stay good friends for a long time.
The stands had anything from food, to groceries, to clothing, to toys, to bone and greenstone carvings. Jens and I easily spent 2 hours (and a good chunk of change, we left when he was broke) at this market, and I would happily go back, just to look at the work again. Most of the stuff was really reasonably priced, and I got a few good deals… but you will just have to wait until I return to see what I got!
Saturday afternoon was spent watching movies (as it was a rainy day and I had tons of work to do). I generally do not like watching movies here- I feel I am wasting my time- but sometimes one gets so tired and lazy during a rainy day that a movie seems the best way to relax. We watched Slumdog Millionaire, and it was a really good movie. At least twice, the tension was so palpable that I could feel my heart racing, with me and Zia shouting at the screen. That’s a good sign of an awesome movie, I’d say. After the movie we had dinner, and I proceeded to spend the rest of the day just veggin’ out, doing nothing but hanging out with friends, just like I used to do before life seemed to get so hectic. I, of course, got nothing done, but it was everything I needed and thought it could be.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Days 86-95: A super busy week
So, this past week has been amazingly busy. I had a biochemistry test on Monday, on the Electron Transport chain, Beta oxidation, Oxidative Phosphorylation, Lipid and carbohydrate biosynthesis, release and uptake… you get the point. I spend literally my entire weekend in the cafeteria, where there are whiteboards for announcements. We would get in early after breakfast, use the whiteboards, study all day, take breaks for lunch and dinner (where people were giving us funny looks for what we had drawn up on the boards, entire diagrams of how electrons move in cells, and other unintelligible things) Friday, Saturday, Sunday and half of Monday were taken up on this. As soon (and I literally mean right after) as I finished my test, I ran to the darkroom and started working on my pieces for my second photography assignment. I will post them up once I put up my exhibition pieces, but they are all thematic- they deal with seeing biology in everyday life, and seeing everyday life in a biological context. I spent all my free time Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and yesterday working on this project. I have 24 hour Darkroom access, so I worked until early in the morning hours a few times. All the security guards know me by first name, and a few are photographers. So, as you can see, there hasn’t been much to write about or much time to write about the nothing I have to write about. I will write about this, though:
I am beginning to miss home. I don’t miss my house as much as I miss North Carolina. I don’t want to pick up and go home by any means (I am in love with this country way too much) but I appreciate more every day how lucky I am to live where I do. Two things have catalyzed this feeling. The first is that I have started going through photos of home, to edit them. I have about 8000 pictures, and I want to slim it down to maybe 2000 (a lot are duplicates). So, going through them has reminded me of the beauty of my state. The second is my civil war class- we watch a lot of movies and documentaries, where the misty green hills of the south are illuminated by sunrise. I miss the southern drawl the historians have as they describe a war that almost tore our country in twain. I miss the southern accent, despite how annoying it sometimes get, it has a sort of congenial warmth I miss. I am not regretting staying here in the least, but it makes me proud to be a North Carolinian. To take a quote from a friend:
“The red clay of North Carolina runs through my veins.”
How true. Once a Carolinian, always a Carolinian.
I am beginning to miss home. I don’t miss my house as much as I miss North Carolina. I don’t want to pick up and go home by any means (I am in love with this country way too much) but I appreciate more every day how lucky I am to live where I do. Two things have catalyzed this feeling. The first is that I have started going through photos of home, to edit them. I have about 8000 pictures, and I want to slim it down to maybe 2000 (a lot are duplicates). So, going through them has reminded me of the beauty of my state. The second is my civil war class- we watch a lot of movies and documentaries, where the misty green hills of the south are illuminated by sunrise. I miss the southern drawl the historians have as they describe a war that almost tore our country in twain. I miss the southern accent, despite how annoying it sometimes get, it has a sort of congenial warmth I miss. I am not regretting staying here in the least, but it makes me proud to be a North Carolinian. To take a quote from a friend:
“The red clay of North Carolina runs through my veins.”
How true. Once a Carolinian, always a Carolinian.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Day 85: Dylan’s birthday
Dylan is one of my friends here, from NY state. He turned 20 today, and as a result we had a little celebration for him. After a long day of class (which was mind draining) some of our group started cooking for Dylan and the rest of us, with the groceries I had bought the day before. By the end we had 2 chicken pasta bakes, baked potato, and pineapple for desert. It felt good to have home cooked food again. After dinner, we went to our friends room and gave Dylan his gifts, which included a necklace with a strawberry on it (as he dressed up as a strawberry for a party at the start of the year, he never really got over the stigma), and a bottle of Jagermeister. We were all in these rooms, having a few drinks and wishing Dylan a happy birthday, when we decided to play a game I hadn’t played since my high school days, during the winter months at Cold Stone Creamery. The game is simple: write the name of a famous person on a scrap of paper- give it to the person next to you, without them looking at it. Take the paper that you have received, lick it, and stick it to your forehead. Everyone now knows who you are except you. Then, by answering yes and no questions only you must determine who you are. The game is exceptionally fun, but I came in last place (I had a crappy person, Matt Damon). Other people had Napoleon, Jesus, Albert Einstein, Stalin, and Gandhi, among others.
After our game, we decided to go to town to celebrate the birthday. Two interesting things happened while we were there- first of all, our bus driver looked very familiar. In fact, he looked almost identical to Jermaine Clement, from Flight of the Conchords.
Jermaine is the one on the right. Our bus driver had the glasses and all.
Once we were in town, we went to a student club that we frequent. The running joke among us is that the clubs all over NZ play only 11 songs, and they take about an hour to repeat. This night they added a 12th song to the list: I think it is something along the lines of “I’m on a boat”. This has been a pretty popular song in the past few months, but I can’t help but cringe at the fact it is escaping beyond the realm of the internet scene, where I am sure it was made as a joke. Go look it up on YouTube if you want- but I warn you: it contains really strong language, and repetitive, idiotic yet strangely catchy lyrics. If you do know what song I am talking about, then kick your head back in laughter at the mental image of 150 people shouting at the top of their lungs “I’m on a BOAT! I’m on a BOAT! Take a look at me I’m on a ************* BOAT!” while bobbing to the beat. The night ended up being pretty fun, despite the constant rain. Dylan enjoyed himself.
After our game, we decided to go to town to celebrate the birthday. Two interesting things happened while we were there- first of all, our bus driver looked very familiar. In fact, he looked almost identical to Jermaine Clement, from Flight of the Conchords.
Jermaine is the one on the right. Our bus driver had the glasses and all.
Once we were in town, we went to a student club that we frequent. The running joke among us is that the clubs all over NZ play only 11 songs, and they take about an hour to repeat. This night they added a 12th song to the list: I think it is something along the lines of “I’m on a boat”. This has been a pretty popular song in the past few months, but I can’t help but cringe at the fact it is escaping beyond the realm of the internet scene, where I am sure it was made as a joke. Go look it up on YouTube if you want- but I warn you: it contains really strong language, and repetitive, idiotic yet strangely catchy lyrics. If you do know what song I am talking about, then kick your head back in laughter at the mental image of 150 people shouting at the top of their lungs “I’m on a BOAT! I’m on a BOAT! Take a look at me I’m on a ************* BOAT!” while bobbing to the beat. The night ended up being pretty fun, despite the constant rain. Dylan enjoyed himself.
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