№ 12 ◍ 20 ◍ 2008

Heaps And Heaps Of Water

Or more correctly written, “‘Eaps an’ ‘eaps of wootah.” Yes, I’m down under, in New Zealand, and there is a ginormous amount of water here. As a result, I’m extremely jet-lagged (though international business class is pretty nice to sleep in). But I’ll try my best to write this as coherent-ly as I can.

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What I nicknamed The Turd (pictured above), is said to have been an ancient fort and defensive position for the indigenous people of New Zealand. We hiked up its side along a treacherous set of stairs and walkways. About halfway through, Sammy lost his visor hat to the swirling twirling New Zealandish winds. We spotted it a few (twenty) feet below the path, but it was too far out of reach. Oh well! So we continued the path, only to be greeted by a mock-Māori statue and a hazard sign, accompanied by its friend, Deadly Jagged Fence.

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We continued our walk along the beach, while I found miscellaneous bits of the beach worth remembering. Among them were various shells, crabs, rocks, massive waves, effervescent green algae (to which I was strangely attracted), a WII memorial, a mysterious blue chair, a duck, a comical chicken, a bird skeleton, and something I carved in the sand. Here are some pictures of those.

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And by the way, my first impression of New Zealand after exiting the airport was.. I’M IN LOVE WITH NEW ZEALAND’S TREES! They are so cool, and a bit eccentric. And the other thing is, they’re everywhere. Coming from Chicago, we see trees, especially since I’m lucky enough to go camping once in a while (and frequently visit Michigan), but nowhere near as many as there are here! You cannot look anywhere without seeing another tree, bush, fern, or amazing flower.

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We ended our beach trip and retired to our new home for the trip. Its conveniently located on top of a 45 degree (or something) angled hill, hundreds of feet up. Ouch for my legs.

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