around the farm

Jamie after a bath...aka Batman. I love this picture!

Until yesterday, I hadn't actually explored the farm that I'm living on...the Sopers have about 16 acres behind their house, where you will find olive trees, lavender bushes, a veggie garden, some old berry patches as well as several sheep.

We took a walk around the farm yesterday with Jamie- mostly to check on the sheep, about 7 of them are expecting lambs soon! Unfortunately one of the ewes, who we think was expecting twins, fell ill with sleeping sickness (apparently common for pregnant sheep expecting more than one lamb) and passed away this afternoon. She's burried in the very back of the farm in the pet/animal graveyard. According to Noeline the sheep used to all have names, but it got too confusing, so now they are just Sheep 1 through Sheep 11 (well, Sheep 10 now).

Jamie and Inca...the impatient sheep dog!

Sheep 1-10.

Jamie and Benny the cat after a bath (Jamie, not Benny had a bath.)

Jamie and I with Sheep 11. Rest in Peace.

cheers-

s.

Queenstown

Lake Tekapo

Skiing at Coronet Peak!

Sunset over The Remarkables and Lake Wakatipu

Paragliding into the sunset

The (awesome) luge track!

I think I might have found it---one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand. Queenstown is touristy, which is a good reason why most Kiwis don't care for Queenstown...but you have to agree that it's still beautiful. Kathryn and I spent four days there with her sister (who lives and works in Queenstown) over our semester break. On Thursday we went up the Skyline Gondola to the lookout over the city and The Remarkables mountain range. That's where we went down the luge track (picture above) which was awesome! You sit in a little cart and race down a concrete track...while overlooking the incredible mountains. Pretty cool! We were there around sunset which made it even more spectacular. Note the paragliders in the pictures above!

On Friday we skiied at Coronet Peak which was also amazing. I really think that skiing above the tree-line is much better than having the chance of getting stuck in trees. We had great weather and the snow was pretty good- a little icy near the top though!

Saturday was a day of recovery for our poor muscles- we slept in and then took a walk around the other side of the lake from the actual town of Queenstown, in an area called Kelvin Heights. This is the rich area, not only because it's right on the water, but also because they get the most sun. Claire, Kathryn's sister lives in a condo that doesn't see the sun for 3 months out of the year! Needless to say their heating bill in the winter is pretty steep.

On Sunday we drove back to Christchurch through Lake Tekapo which was beautiful. The lakes in this region are an incredible turquoise colour. According to my trusty Lonely Planet guide, this colour is due to the "rock flour" sediment in the water. This is from when the lake's basin was dug out by the glacier. The sediment gives the water a milky appearance and refracts the sunlight! Another great day weather-wise with some stunning views. Then on Monday it was back to school!

Cheers-

s.

new semester, new home!

Time seriously does fly...I can't believe that July is half over! I'm sure most of you are sweating and complaining about the heat while I'm snuggled under a wool blanket and scraping ice off my car in the mornings!

I had a great break last week, Kathryn and I took a trip down to Queenstown to ski and relax! I'll post more about that later...

Two weeks ago I moved from the student apartments at Ilam to a home-stay with the Soper family. Rebecca, a friend from Auburn who was here last semester doing her student teaching lived with the Sopers and they invited me to live with them this semester. I have my own (huge!) room and bathroom! I also now have two younger brothers, Hayden is 10 and Jamie is just 3.

Jamie's latest obession is anything with holes. He had a hole in his sock the other day and insisted that he couldn't wear it. Now he checks everyone's socks, shirts, pants, whatever to make sure they don't have any holes either. He found out that his pyjama shirt has button holes...it took a lot of convincing to assure him that they were ok!





















Hayden and Jamie


cheers-

s.

skiing...in june!

It's been quite a busy week...I had two exams on Monday and Tuesday, moved to my new house (pictures coming!) and volunteered at the hospital on Wednesady, went skiing at Mt Hutt on Thursday, and said goodbye to one of my flatmates on Friday (going home to the US).

My new house, and family (the Sopers) are wonderful! I have my own room with a huge bed and tv, own bathroom complete with a heater towel rack and heat lamp...a necessity for cold New Zealand mornings! My new family consists of a mum and dad (Noeline and Nigel), two brothers (Hayden age 10 and Jamie age 3) and a random assortment of dogs, cats, and sheep! The house is on 16 acres on the outskirts of Christchurch, about a 10min drive to campus. The family is in Picton this weekend at their bach (lake house) because it's the beginning of school holidays.






On Thursday Katie and I went skiing at Mt Hutt! It's one of the biggest and closest hills to Christchurch, about a 90min drive. So far this season they have had more snow (130cm base) than they had all of last year! It's quite different skiing here, everything is above the treeline so there is no need to cut out runs between the trees! That also means that there are no trail maps at the top of the lifts...you kinda just get off and go! I found the snow here to be quite wet and sticky, not exactly the powder that North America is spoiled with! The views are incredible though and it was overall a great day! Katie leaves tomorrow for home and although she is so excited about getting home (even in time for July 4th) I'm going to miss her being next door to me next semester!

This week I'm heading south of here about 5 hours to Queenstown, apparently the "adventure capital of the world!" with my friend Kathryn to go skiing at The Remarkables and Coronet Peak. Her sister just moved there to work so we even have a free place to stay!

In the meantime, I'm trying to stay warm (I think maybe Kiwis can learn a thing or two from Canadians about how to stay warm in the winter!) by hanging out in the living room by the fire. I was very proud of myself for being able to light the fire today!

cheers-

s.