Welcome Flat Hut hot pools.

Well, after yet another not-terribly-eventful week of classes (and walking around in shoes other than my decimated Chacos) we left Thursday afternoon as a group of 10 to camp at the Copeland Track trailhead (or road's-end?). It rained a lot and was very windy overnight and when we started walking in the morning the streams were swollen and tree ferns sodden. Not surprisingly, the rainforest felt a little like hiking on the OP, minus the Jurassic-looking tree ferns and abrupt mountain front. Friday was spent mostly with our power-hiking trio (Elizabeth, Chad and I... also our cozy tent group thursday night).

I have seen mushrooms in all colors of the rainbow. The spectrum was completed with green on Sunday. sorry, no photo documentation.

I might be over my fear of heights... if any bridge were to cure me of such a fear, the one that was made of chain link and cable, completely see-through, swinging wildly over river rapids in the wind would probably be the one to do it, and i might go so far as to say it was fun to cross.

friday evening everything was clouded in and a little rainy, but when i woke up saturday morning, went to soak with janna the view was nothing short of breathtaking. I think that's when I stopped taking pictures of the area because they can't possibly do it justice. Neither can words.

we soaked naked most of the time, often smearing delightful mud over exposed areas (the trio of chamois hunters got a kick out of seeing so many naked girls with mud coverings). don't put your head under water--you might get amoebic meningitis and lapse into an irreversible coma! oh dear.

between the two nights we spent at the hut we did some day hiking (way more than we intended, actually) and some more soaking. got up early and made remarkably good time on the way out, drove back to dunedin and now i can't get my head back into academic mode.

we have very little time left here...

this weekend doesn't make for much of a story because it was so great. next weekend Fiordland? I'm toying with the idea of riding the train across the north part of the south island as one of my final adventures. there may be more wwoofing with simon during finals, plus the allblacks game.

May flowers are not a thing here.

I'm down to the last two tablespoons of Adam's peanut butter from the jar that Susie brought over for me.

The last week of April also marked the end of our field geology course--after the test Thursday night several of us piled into a van (dubbed 'Possum Killer, I believe) and set out on that optional field trip that didn't happen at the end of Easter break. The general route, if anyone cares to look on a map, went from Dunedin to Wanaka (to the west) and followed the coastal highway past the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers, Punakaiki, Greymouth, and continued up to Farewell Spit at the very NW corner of the island, back down and across at Arthur's Pass and back to Dunedin via motorway 1 or whatever the main road is on that side of the Southern Alps. A few notable pictures:

Wharariki Beach--going north means it gets warmer!

Punakaiki--Pancake Rocks.

We jumped the barrier and watched huge waves crash against sea stacks
Moria Gate Arch at Kahurangi NP: we slept under there because there were no signs that told us not to. Glow worms replaced stars for the night.
The Walls... of Moria! For real--Fox glacier carved these walls and someone told Pete Jackson to use them (Janna has decided that that is her dream job--tell people cool places to film movies).
Our first steps into the Tasman Sea--wet boots forever more.

This last weekend (May 7-9) I don't yet have pictures for. Carried by Magnum (I think we've named every vehicle so far...), Janna, Karen, Chad and I went south into the Catlins. Super chill-we camped on beaches, were harassed by an aggressive and tailless rooster, saw some waterfalls and sea lions, and generally relaxed.

This coming weekend will hopefully involve hot springs. In the meantime my flat is VERY cold and our new physics lecturer is "like a kid on speed" according to his previous student evaluations. My Kiwi host moved out (that's a good thing) and it's Mother's Day (I love you, Mom!) and I've got a month and a half left so I'm packing the weekends and looking forward to the sublimation from winter to summer!