mt. cargill, peninsula, etc.

two days ago i hiked up the nearest hill that is considered "hike-worthy" though i'm not sure it was such because it was about 2 hours up and had a nice gravel path the whole way. the view up top would have been great but we were in a cloud (which was pretty cool so i can't complain).

the walk to the mountain was actually the worst part (another 45 minute trek but just down a long and boring road).

the plant life here is amazing - i much prefer it to walking through the jungles of belize (though it may just be because it's so much cooler and more pleasant). i can't compare costa rica because my memory is failing to serve... there are no monkeys, however, which is a little sad

i learned today that new zealand has only 1 native mammal and it is some type of bat.

yesterday i went to the international orientation which was kind of crummy actually except i met a new friend and learned some about the various clubs on campus. i'm excited about these because they have some acitivities that i have been meaning to pursue in the states (such as tai chi and a Christian fellowship group)

i also played some ultimate frisbee and during one game had to guard the smelliest person i have been around in quite a while. i switched my defensive mark about 30 seconds later

today was a trip to the pensinula. it probably should have been cooler than it was. unfortunately, we got off to a late start (we got the last bus and it was 1.5 hrs late) and didn't get to see quite as much as we would have liked. we ended up seeing a really nice quite beach with no one else on it (one of the prettiest i have ever seen that didn't involve crystal blue water), a sheep farm, and a spot that usually features an active albatross colony, seals, and yellow-eyed penguins. while there was a penguin, it was holed up in a little nest so we didn't see much of it. oh well, the albatross was cool.

this is probably a lousy post but i thought it would update everyone.

the quote for thailand came back and now i have to talk it over with my friends. i'm also going to look at RVing across NZ.


ooooooh - before i forget, funny story. my friends and i got coupons for domino's pizza about a week ago (the day we climbed the waterfall) and because we got home late we decided to go to one of the only open places (the forementioned). after asking and then correctly repeating my name back to me, the counter guy typed my name as "kitten" into the TV monitor that displays order status. so i've been nicknamed kitten. i've also written this on my nametags since then.

everyone keep well

-kitten