I have not been very good at updating this blog regularly during my time abroad, but I’m hoping to do some posts in the next little while with snippets of some adventures. It has been such an incredible time the last few months, and I kept meaning to write these long lengthy entries for each of my trips around the south island. The thought of that became a teeny bit overwhelming, so I’ve lowered my expectations to something more manageable. Under the theme of “special or sublime moments,” I’m going to share a few key photos of some special experiences I’ve been blessed to have during my time at this end of the Earth.
In August and early September:
While in Dunedin, I took a walk up the hill behind the city and through some gorgeous neighbourhoods. I came across this stunning tree and was awestruck by its magnificence. I don’t know what kind of tree it is or how old, but it evoked such respect and admiration. I sat on a bench during this walk and overlooked the whole city and harbour. I felt content with life and happy that I had made it to such a beautiful place. It was a quiet, peaceful sublime moment.
This next photo is from my Port Hills field trip with the Land Journeys and Ethics class (outdoor education). Although I’m not sure whether I will get official university credit for the class, taking it has been one of the best decisions I’ve made. I learned many invaluable survival skills like navigation and shelter building, and what really matters when you’re out in the wild (warm socks and a warm sleeping bag make such a difference!). The class was made up of really cool individuals and our teacher, Chris North, had such a genuine and infectious enthusiasm for the outdoors. The Port Hills are about a half hour drive from Christchurch and lead to the Banks Peninsula…it was spectacularly beautiful hiking up there for two days and enjoying the view from the Crater Rim Walkway. The area we were walking in was formerly a volcano (many hundreds of thousands of years ago) that collapsed in on itself, and the now it’s a harbour! Crazy to think about.
Another photo of my Land Journeys and Ethics class on the Port Hills field trip.
And one more, the Port Hills provided a plethora of sublime moments.
I saw this beautiful quote in an adorable store in Kaikoura, while looking around with my friend Kelsey from the States. Kelsey is working as a teacher in New Zealand for a year and it has been such a delight knowing her. We both loved this quote and it gave me such a sense of comfort and relief…because it’s true.
Kelsey and I went swimming with dolphins in Kaikoura. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done. It was very non-commercialized, we donned skin tight wetsuits and zoomed off pretty far into the ocean until we spotted a pod of over a hundred dusky dolphins. Dusky dolphins are incredible creatures, they do lots of acrobatic flips and jumps and they were so friendly and interactive when we entered the water. They would swim very close to you, especially if you made noise. Sometimes they would make eye contact and you would swim in circles with them. I was filled with a deep love and appreciation for these loving and playful marine mammals.
I spent some time in Kaikoura on a spring equinox retreat that was held on a Marae (a Maori meeting house and gathering space), this was the view from the Marae’s front yard. The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. Simply breathtaking place. Kaikoura has a canyon system underwater, and the mountains are astonishingly close to the ocean. The water around the Kaikoura coast is nutrient-rich and abundant with marine life.
Kelsey and I visited a historic Marae with some other friends from the equinox retreat and a local Maori man told us all about the history of the place and gave us some brief insights into the Maori way of life. It was fascinating and such an honour to be there. I felt so grateful and lucky to have been welcomed onto such a special place.
These little ducklings lived around the Ilam Apartments and could often be seen trailing behind their mother. Seeing them always made my way and reinforced my love of Spring, a time for re-birth and renewal….such an interesting experience having spring in September and October.
The second field trip of the outdoor education class was a wilderness trip. We were dropped off in a wilderness area with no paths, no facilities – just what was in our packs (tents, food, etc), a map, and a compass. We had to navigate our way to a clearing in the dark and for the next three days we learned invaluable survival skills. It’s amazing how disorienting it can be to in a forest, you may feel like you are walking in a straight line but it’s so easy to veer off in any direction when your surroundings all look the same. It was a humbling, insightful, and challenging trip. We had a lot of fun moments. Precariously crossing a river, playing cards in our tents, playing games outside, building an emergency shelter, sitting in silence on top of a hill after a good hike….I became a lot closer to the other students in the class and we felt so accomplished and relieved when we could finally come home and take a shower! You learn to appreciate the small things after an experience in the outdoors.
Emmy's Adventures in New Zealand 