Woohoo! I have wheels again!

I'm loving the Nissan! I feel like a tough woman driving a diesel! and I almost feel like I'm representing the Vikings with the purple and one of the stripes is a gold-yellow! I managed my way around town yesterday without too many issues! Hehe :)

Ode to the Wind

The southern alps and glacier lakes are absolutely incredible. My pictures cannot do it justice. We had warm weather, but the wind, the wind was horrendous at times! I really thought our 6-person, dome tent would not last. Our first attempt at setting it up did not work, then we found a tree to set up behind which helped loads. We were quite a spectacle, as was confirmed by a group of Danish lads the next day. I was not able to sleep more than a couple of hours both nights because of the wind. Another effect of the wind was many avalanches! We got to see a few on Saturday morning, but most of the time we just heard the thunderous sound of them.

End of an avalanche...you see the snow disappearing into the V...



The end of another avalanche that was on the right and this is the cloud that came back up the mountain...



Saturday we did the Sealy Tarns trail - the steepest of all the day tramps - and as it was my first time hiking in a mountain, I seriously wondered if I'd make it. But the views of the peaks and the lakes were spectacular and well worth it! The painful part - at least for my left knee - was the descent...thankfully Deanna had loaned me her walking stick 'cause that helped tremendously! Late afternoon, the girls headed out for more hikes, I tried to nap but couldn't, so I made friends with the Danish boys that Rachel was swooning over. On Sunday, we packed up and then walked to Hooker Lake. The wind made this tramp feel like an amusement park ride, with two swing bridges and gusts so strong you had to widen your stance to stay upright and the wind at the lake was un-describable! In the videos, you will see I even have a hard time holding the camera still, but the videos don't do the wind justice, because I could only step out from behind the rock when the gusts died down a bit to take pics and videos!

This is a shot of the Hooker River right before reaching the lake...talk about wind-resistance training!



Hooker Lake - hehe! You'll see a bit of the rock we took shelter behind when looking down the full-length of the lake and at the very end of the lake is Hooker Glacier...I had hoped to see some of it fall in but there was no hanging out to watch for it.



My only disappointment was not getting to see a Kea, the alpine parrot. I did get to hear a Morepork (an owl).

Finally, I'm unpacked!

So I moved into my new flat on Saturday. It feels great to finally be completely unpacked and no longer living out of the suitcases! I love my new bedroom and all my second-hand furniture and clearance items! I had one hell of time putting up a new curtain rod...definitely no yanking on the curtains 'cause they could come crashing down! Deanna is absolutely great - helping me move and taking me to get groceries - and so is Wayne. The kitties are starting to warm up to me but aren't too trusting yet. It's great to have tv again! I'll probably be sitting in front of it every chance I can over the next few weeks! Which won't be much as I'm feeling the pressure of getting to my manuscript and my proposal and starting my microsatellite work (for those who know what that is). I've now started hunting for a vehicle since my money will be available next week...will be test-driving a Nissan Terrano in the next couple of days. I'm heading to Mt Cook (the highest peak in NZ) for camping next weekend...I'm soo looking forward to that! So I'm busy as ever, but I'll try to post an album of the new flat soon!

"I've got a package people!"

Bonus points for naming the movie that quote is from (except Mindy, Michele and Tammy...'cause knowing it is just expected of you)! But more like I've got 4 packages! Hehe! One from Dad Young with some great coffee and yummy pecan brittle! Two from my mom :) with sweaters and a new pink fleece and other clothes and things. And one from Mindy and Jan with girlie stuff - yay! girlie items are spendy here! - and a breast cancer fleece vest and loads of pain reliever! I definitely feel the love! Even the department secretary has been commenting on all my packages.

The back is hurting a bit again this week. And sure enough, my new chiropractor had moved back to Australia! I swear, my chiropractors are always leaving me! So I tried the other chiro who owns the practice that the other one worked out of and I actually think I might like him even better. Anyhoo, I had an I'm-a-stupid-American moment during Pump class, which is an aerobic-like weight-lifting class. Well, I looked right at the 1 Kg on the weights but in my head I was still thinking 1 lb (not the 2.2 lbs that 1 Kg is equal to) so I ended up totally lifting more than I should have. My stupidity didn't even dawn on me until I was laying in bed that night. So now my neck hurts again. And it's soo not good timing, now that I want to get in better shape so I can try surfing...thinking I'm gonna sign up for a 2-day surfing course on Dec 8-9 through the University's recreation services...that only gives me 3 weeks to improve my fitness level! Yikes! Been doing those sit-ups and push-ups, though!

Other than that, I've been working late working on my pile of research articles to read, which just keeps getting bigger...the more you read, the more you find you should read. AND getting way excited to move on Saturday!

Sencond-hand furniture, clearance sales and walks along the beach

So my weekend was full of spending money!! But boy did I find some awesome bargains!! Last thursday I picked up a used, but nice queen bed for $200 - a new one would have cost me $600. Friday night I found a couple of women's hiking packs for $270 (I've been looking at packs here and until friday had only seen them for $400-600!) and ended up getting the larger of the two...I hadn't planned on getting one so soon 'cause I won't be going tramping for a while, but I couldn't pass up the deal. Saturday Rebecca and I hit the farmer's market (surprise), and then she took me shopping for furniture...went to the furniture warehouse - the furniture was way too expensive for me, but I did end up with a bed skirt that was on sale. Then the Salvation Army, where I got this darling little secretary's desk with the fold out top and drawers below. I love it! Off to another 2nd-hand store where I found an unfinished bedside table (which are $100-300 new) for only $20 - just needs to be stained or painted - and a wooden arm chair for the desk for $2! Awesome deal! We stopped at a couple other places for me to compare prices, but I ended up getting a lot of things from Kmart...I love the Kmart here as they are always having clearance sales. Since my new bed is a queen I needed new sheets (my current bed is a double), got a set of 360 thread count for 25% off, a bedside lamp on clearance, a clock radio on sale, a full-length mirror (not on sale but cheaper and nicer than anywhere else I've looked). I also got these curtains on clearance...chocolate brown, marked at $30 a panel (again way cheaper than ones I've been comparing), well they rang up for $1.40 each!! AND I got them back to the new flat, pulled them out to show the flatmate and they are EXACTLY the same curtains I had in my living room in Mankato! Guess I like those curtains, huh?! I've just got a couple more things to pick up - pillows, curtain rod, another power strip - and my room is mostly set-up!

On Sunday, Deanna picked me up and we all met with the landlord to sign the new lease and I paid my deposit. I hung out for awhile and started putting my room together...so I'll have less to do when I move in next saturday. Then I WALKED the few blocks to the beach...hehe...and met up with Rachel and Rebecca. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking barefoot on the beach and watching the surfers. I soo want to try surfing!! Rachel surfs, so I'll have someone to do it with. But that's another purchase - gotta get a wetsuit first. So I started doing sit-ups and push-ups last night...I'll have to do them every night if I think I will ever get my arse up on a board in a couple months!

Central Otago Winery Tour

The tour was absolutely fantastic! In 2 days, we went to 8 vineyards (out of the 32 in Central Otago) and a place called The Big Picture. The region is known for its Pinot Noir - it's almost the only red wine produced in the region with 85% of the plantings being Pinot Noir, and there were sooo many good wines! Other common wines are Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewürtztraminer. I ended up with 7 bottles...1 Sauvignon Blanc, 2 Rieslings and 4 Pinot Noirs. We pulled away from the university about 7:20am saturday and got to the first vineyard, Black Ridge, at 10am. The owner of Black Ridge is a story-teller and extremely entertaining; I bought his favorite...2001 Riesling. Then just down the road we stopped at William Hill, where I bought their 2003 Pinot Noir. The Big Picture was a unique experience...they have an aroma room, where you smell different scents and try to figure out what they are...I suck at that game! Their tastings consist of wines of the same variety from different vineyards, so we got to compare 6 different Pinot Noirs...there wasn't a single one I didn't like but a couple stood out, Gibbston Valley (which we were going to the next day) and Mt. Maude. We also had lunch there - platters full of meats, cheeses, spreads, olives, bread, crackers. Mt. Difficulty, with it's incredible views and equally incredible wines, was next. We sat outside for the tastings; it was a difficult ;) decision, but I left with their award-winning 2006 Riesling. Then off to Chard Farm that had sooo many great wines! I splurged here on my most expensive bottle of Pinot Noir they call the Viper, 2006 vintage...it was definitely worth it and will be saved for a special occasion! We spent the night in Queenstown...got a cabin with 6 rooms, kitchen, sitting area, right along the edge of town by all the trees - I was seriously kicking myself for not bringing my binoculars! We hit Gibbston Valley in the morning - definitely one of my favorites. For the tour, they take you through the whole process from vineyard to bottle, and the tastings take place in their cave cellar. (All the male vineyard owners love telling stories of blasting away rocks and through mountains with jelly-mite! ) All their wines were fantastic! I bought the 2004 Pinot Noir. There's a cheesery there as well so, of course, I bought some - Balfour. Peregrine was unique with it's modern architecture. They had a few good Pinot Noirs. I walked off with their good and spicy but cheapest one, Saddleback Pinot Noir 2006, as it's named after an endangered bird and they donate to it's conservation...yes, I'm a sucker! I loved their Sauvignon Blanc 2007 so I bought that as well. At this point I stopped buying wine as I went just over my budget with that Saddleback bottle. We made a spontaneous stop at Bald Hills, and I loved their 2006 Riesling and the 2006 Pinot Noir - the 2004 Pinot Noir was good as well but that 2006 was outstanding! Last stop, Carrick, where we had lunch, again platters of meats (including mussels), cheeses, spreads, olives, breads, oil and balsamic. And we enjoyed the tastings outside in the sunshine with the fabulous view! Again, I liked all but the Chardonnays, but then I'm not a fan of Chardonnay - Mindy, I'm sure, would have loved them. Then the drive back to Dunedin and the gloomy skies and rain! I'm now well prepared to take visitors to some of my favorites, and there's 24 more I haven't visited! I got back and was telling my flatmates about the trip...my new French flatmate kept asking me if I was French...telling her about the wines she says "Are you sure you're not French?", bought some cheese...again "Are you sure you're not French?", then got my brie out of the fridge..."Can't believe you're not French..." - finally I admitted that I do have some French in me and this, I guess, was a satisfactory explanation for my love of wine and cheese! :P

Week of Pain

So I've been in major back pain this week...today being the first day I didn't take any pain reliever, but I'm not quite back to normal. It started monday morning, I found a chiropractor here on tuesday and went back to her again on wednesday. I spent most nights this week taking pain reliever, drinking wine, eating chocolate, icing my back and laying on my bed watching dvds...my kind of therapy...and my days haven't been too productive. So I've been cranky and don't have much else to report. I did pay my deposit and pick up my books for my dive course today...hehe, I can't wait and January is so far away! Tomorrow I'm going to an all-day symposium at our Marine Center - grad students in my department will present their research. Then I leave bright and early saturday morning for a winery tour. 8 wineries/vineyards in 2 days, one of which is a cave winery. We spend the night at a lodge in Queenstown, which I'm dying to visit. I'm way excited and am sure I'll have loads to blog about next week!

In Memory

Molly Jones, one of the blue-veiled chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus) I had given to Emily, died last week. :( I'm amazed how sad I am over a reptile! She lived with Derrick for her first several years, then me for a couple of years and Emily since early this year. Not exactly sure of her age, I'm guessing around 6 or 7 years (longer than the expected life span of 5 years). She was survived by her partner, Desmond Jones, and current owner, Emily Koppel.