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!