Tunnel Beach, Taieri Gorge Railway, Highlanders Rugby, and more!

It's been over a week since my last post, and a lot has happened. Hopefully I'm not forgetting anything. These events may or may not be in chronological order, but I suppose you wouldn't know if I was lying, would you? Anyway, here's what I've been up to in the final week of summer:

Tunnel Beach: Tyler, Matt, Sherry, Jane, and I drove about twenty minutes from school through a thick fog to the beginning of the path to Tunnel Beach. We were worried that the view would be spoiled since we couldn't see anything from the top through the fog, but before long it had completely cleared, and it was a beautiful day. We checked out the point, failed at a selfy, and walked down a flight of stairs in a small tunnel to the gorgeous beach. Tyler and I did a bit of bouldering while the others enjoyed the nice weather.

Jane and Sherry

Tyler

Sherry straight chillin

Tyler, Matt, and Jane 

Selfy fail

Club Fair: At the Uni Club Fair, I signed up for:
- Tramping Club (tramping = hiking)
- Uni Rugby League Team (explanation to come later)
- Golf Club
- Rugby Referee Club
- Otago National Political Party (Dunno what that is, but I got a free Red Bull)
- White Water Kayak Club
- Uni Rugby Union Team
- Alhambra Rugby Union Club (these guys play against the Uni team, I haven't decided who I'll join yet, but these guys gave me a free NZ rugby ball!)

I'm also now planning on joining the Ultimate Frisbee Team with Josh (practices twice a week, but I can only make one due to rugby training), and there's even a sliver of a chance that I try out for some basketball club team (shout out to Clay) with Gioia, Matt, Jane, Sherry, and Tyler. We've been playing a decent amount lately, and while I'm still no good, it's a lot of fun. However, I did notch my career high in points in a game with 7 baskets (something like that, who's counting?) in a thrilling 12-10 comeback victory. The next game, I think I went 1-9 shooting. Consistency is one of many things I struggle with in this sport...

Long Beach: Tyler, Josh, Sherry, and I also went back to our favorite spot at Long Beach one afternoon. Josh and Tyler did some more lead climbing, while Sherry and I (later joined by 20 other friends who arrived in a massive van) did some bouldering. We also adventured around at low tide and found a hidden beach where we had heard rumors of penguins! And the rumors were right! Since we had to swim, even at low tide, to get to this beach, I couldn't bring my camera, but sure enough, we saw four little penguins! They were hiding in their nests/fort like things, so we didn't spend too much time hovering over them. Absolutely adorable, probably the size of a rugby ball.

Taieri Gorge Railway: All of the international students were invited on this cool train trip through the Taieri Gorge. I went with Stu, Tyler, Josh, Sherry, and Claire. It was a long trip but with great views. We spotted some mountain goats chillin on the cliffs, and they even shot some LOTR scenes in the surrounding areas.

Claire, Sherry, and myself

After the train ride, we got lunch at an awesome local bar called the Bog, which is apparently a pretty legendary place in Dunedin, been around forever. They have $4 lunches which are delicious.

Later that night we went to the Macklemore concert, which was the bommmmmb. Sherry, Josh, and I weaseled up to the front of the stage, but foolishly forgot our cameras. Regardless, the show was amazing, he played Thrift Shop (x2), Same Love, Gold, Ten Thousand Hours, among others, and ended with And We Danced, one of my personal favorites. Obviously, I danced the whole way home, where we met up with Tyler and Claire. Apparently Tyler met Macklemore after the show and shook his hand. He forgot his camera, too, what a coincidence... Just kidding, we believe him.

The next morning Sherry, Claire, Andrea, and Jane bought a new whip! It's a silver Subaru, real nice and all. Also, breaking news! Our car now has a name: Lolli Caldina. Sometimes we call her Missy C, too, whatever we're feeling.

Highlanders v. Chiefs: We played rugby on a nearby pitch for most of the afternoon before grilling some burgers at Stu's place. Then we suited up, applied the appropriate face paint, and made the five minute walk to the new Forsyth Barr Stadium for the highly anticipated Highlanders Rugby match against the Chiefs.

Josh and Stu

Forsyth Barr Stadium 

The game was a total blast. All the Otago students buy tickets in the student section, called the Zoo. We got there pretty early, so we were in about the 8th row (for only $15 bucks, including a free drink, not bad!). The atmosphere was nuts. From the kick off to the final whistle, nobody in the Zoo sat down; we stood on our seats the entire match. It turned out to be a very exciting, high scoring game. Unfortunately, the Highlanders were pretty sloppy and made a few crucial errors at the end that cost them the game. The final score was 41-27 Chiefs. Regardless, we had a blast. Stu (another rugger from Occidental in CA) and I had been looking forward to this arguably more than anything in NZ, and our expectations were met.

Also, probably the highlight of the game was when Gioia was randomly selected to try a drop goal on the field at half time. First of all, I should note that whenever the other team made a mistake (fairly often) or when the refs made a call that wasn't in our favor, the Zoo began the chant, "You f%$ked up! You f!&ked up!" which was pretty entertaining. Anyways, Gioia had never drop kicked before, and I can tell you that it's not an easy thing to do, so he missed preeeeeeetty badly. The crowd, naturally, followed with their famous chant. It was hilarious.

Gioia, in the white hat, preparing to kick

The Zoo also tried its own rendition of the Harlem Shake. It's already gotten over 45,000 views on YouTube.. check it out.... and here it is again from my perspective: 

After the game, Tyler, Josh, Sherry, Claire, and I went to Josh's, played Settlers, and ordered pizza.

The next morning, I met Sherry and Andrea at the local farmer's market. I bought some carrots, (including this cool guy, who is now more of a pet and less of a snack), plums, apples, a nice red flower for my room, and a delicious chocolate almond croissant.

Then we met up with some people from our program and took a bus to St. Clair beach for surf lessons! It was a pretty overcast, chilly morning, so we weren't terribly excited, but as soon as we got there the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day. We got our wetsuits, boarded up (not sure if that's actually something surfers say, but whatever), got a quick lesson from a Vikings supporting Canadian with super long blonde flow who referred to me as 'Minnesota' all day, and hit the water. We were mostly trying to hit the waves after they had broken but were still surf-able. Nearly everyone got up once or twice, if even just for a few seconds, and everyone had a blast. We got coffee after, stopped for fish and chips, and took the bus back to Uni.

Sherry, Stu, Madison, and I bought tickets to the Warriors game that night, which is the New Zealand Rugby League team. It was the first ever rugby league game at the Forsythh Barr Stadium, as well as the first ever live rugby league game that I had watched. We sat in the Zoo again, and got front row seats this time. It turned out that we actually knew fewer of the rules than we thought we did, so we spent most of the game trying to figure out some of the weird rules. Here are some of the biggest differences from rugby union (if you aren't a rugby fan, you probably won't understand this):

1. No rucking: when a tackle is made, the player gets up, rolls the ball behind him, and his teammate plays it from there.

2. Teams get six downs per possession, so it's a turnover after that. They kick every time on their last possession, no matter how close they are to the try zone.

3. Uncontested scrums.

4. Uncontested line outs (slightly different, but this is the general idea)

5. Tries are four points, conversions are worth two.

6. Penalty kicks are worth two points.

7. Drop goals are worth one point.

8. The restarts are a football-style kickoff, off a tee, usually as far as they can kick.

That's the basic idea anyways. It's amazingly similar to football. We came to the conclusion that we didn't like it nearly as much as rugby union, but we also agreed that it is a more physical sport, and the tackling is amazing. Since you don't have to worry about losing a ruck, you can run less in control to get the extra yard or two. Most guys tackle high first so the player can't offload, too, so it's all about gang tackling.

Anyways, we played the Brisbane Broncos, an Australian team who were a much better team than the Warriors. The Broncos scored five, yes five (5), tries in the first half. All five tries went to video review, and all five were disallowed. A few just barely stepped out of bounds, one or two was knocked on, etc. It was crazy. The Zoo loved it, though, and their chants continued after each one. Somehow, we were up 2-0 at the end of the first half. They took the lead with a legitimate try in the second half, but we ended up scoring a few big tries near the end and won 16-10.

Okay, that was a crazy long post, so that's all for now. Until next time. 

<3

Caldina and Long Beach

Saturday, February 16th.

I woke up around ten and met up with Josh and Tyler. We walked to a local grocery store and met up with a nice German couple. Our mechanic friend, Edward, came along as well and did a general check-up, and all seemed to be well and good. A large stack of $20's (ATM doesn't give anything larger) later, and Josh, Tyler, and I were the proud owners of...

A Toyota Caldina!

We're very proud of our new whip, but the name is TBD. It's a great car, and we were excited to put it to use. Before, though, Sherry and I went to a local rugby pitch and drop kicked, punted, and threw around for a while. On our way off of the field, the Otago Uni's women's rugby coach stopped us and recruited Sherry for the team... no big deal. She'll be at training next week.

Then we packed up some warm clothes, climbing gear, sleeping bags, and food, and Sherry, Claire, Josh, Tyler, and I left for Long Beach. It was a short, beautiful drive along the ocean. We got there and found an awesome looking cave that we deemed was a perfect place to sleep. The rest of the afternoon we spent rock climbing and bouldering on the huge cliffs lining the beach. There were a fair number of other climbers there who were all very friendly.

We were lucky that Josh and Tyler were such experienced climbers, because they were able to lead climb the wall and set up a top rope (I hope I have all of the climbing lingo right). They decided that the route they set was only about a 5.7 or so (a pretty easy rating), but it was great for inexperienced climbers like Sherry and me. I've yet to find some shoes, so I did it barefoot, and I felt a lot like Frodo. It was my first time climbing outdoors, and getting to the top and looking out over the ocean was an huge adrenaline rush. I think I'm addicted.

We also had some fun bouldering around the area, and you can see in the pictures the large pieces of rock that are covered with chalk from previous boulderers. We climbed and bouldered until about 8 pm, and then sat down for dinner on the beach. Apples, plums, bread, cheese, pastrami, chips, wine, Scrumpies (a local hard cider), and our new favorite snack, Tim Tams were for dinner. We threw on our headlamps and managed to get caught up in another bouldering problem before it got totally dark, and then we moved back onto the beach for some awesome stargazing.

Other notables from the beach: there are constantly bats flying all around the cliffs, even during the day.  There was a bachelor party on the beach for most of the afternoon. They were driving around dirt bikes, listening to music, and hitting golf balls towards their friends on motor bikes. It didn't seem like a very good idea, so we stayed out of the way until their van got stuck in the sand with the tide quickly approaching, so we ran over and lent a hand as it sat in a few inches of water. They got out okay, but not a minute too early.

Okay, finally, pictures!

View from the drive to the beach

Claire and Sherry

Tyler and Josh setting up our sleeping area

You can barely make out the guy on the left hitting a golf ball down the beach...

Notice all of the chalk on the walls from previous boulderers

Dunedin: Otago University

We arrived in Dunedin on Sunday, February 10th. I got to my flat around 4:00 and met my kiwi host, Jess, who is awesome. It only took about half an hour to unpack, because I didn't bring a lot. My room is significantly bigger than my room at home, but I don't have nearly enough stuff to fill it up. I've decided that a sleeping bag, travel pillow, and travel towel will be sufficient for the semester, instead of the $100 linen package.

We got pizza for dinner with some people from my program, explored the city, and bought some essential groceries: bacon, cheese, apples, peppers (now called capsicums), yogurt, and wine. I soon discovered that these were not sufficient for proper meals. If you didn't already known, I'm on a meal plan at Hamilton. A second trip to the grocery store would prove much more successful.

The next day I skyped Rizzo and Marcus, who see to be managing well without me. I got kabobs for lunch with Sherry and Stu, and then Sherry and I went for a run/explored Dunedin. We checked out the botanical gardens, parrot cages and all, sweet as (that's the NZ lingo) new rugby stadium, and the Octago (home of most/all of the Otago Uni night life). We watched some more cricket as well.

For dinner, I was invited over to the lovely flat where my new NZ friends, Mike, De (Dee? D? I guess I don't know how to spell his name), and Anya, live, along with Jess and Connor. We played pizza roulette: you order pizza from a local pizza place and tell them you want to play, and before they put on your toppings, they load up one of the slices of pizza with peppers and hot sauce. Then the toppings go on, and all of the slices look the same. Long story short, Mike lost, but we all shared the piece because apparently Kiwis aren't big on spicy food. We got ice cream after, and I sampled the NZ famous flavor: Hokey Pokey. It's kind of honey flavored with corn pop-like crunchy bits in it. It was pretty good, I guess, but not worth all of the fuss. Gioia and Nicole and I then played our first every New Zealand game of Settlers! A friend of ours had a party after which was a lot of fun.

I'm now realizing that I didn't take any pictures the first few days here. This post is kind of lame, but the pictures will come soon. Patience...

The following day I made bacon for breakfast. Smart. I mailed in my application for a 18+ card (so I don't have so carry my passport to the bars or grocery stores) and set up a bank account with a local bank with Sherry. We ate at Velvet Burger - venison burger, grilled pineapple, chili mayo, lettuce, tomato, beets, and fatties (yet another name for 'fries'). We also went shopping for real food! Stuff like Milk, bread, eggs, hummus, peanut butter, chips, hot sauce, apples, avocados, lettuce, oil and vinegar, shrimp, more cheese, grapes, etc. We had a potluck at Sherry's (roasted carrots, parsnips, NZ sweet potatoes, cauliflower) flat with Claire (salad with oats, apples, caramelized onions), Jane (spicy chicken), and Josh (bread and beer). I made a salad with shrimp, grapes, tomatoes, and peppers. I played some more Settlers with Josh and Tyler (from Colgate, dunno why I'm friends with them). In an exciting Settlers finale, I managed to score (Rizzo, Marcus, Jake, Bryce, Simple, Mitch, Sam, Rock, Fuzzy, Tay, Slime, Gioia, Nicole, and all other Settlers friends, I hope you're paying attention) 15 points in one game. That's right, longest road, largest army, and 2 VP development cards in a six point final turn. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please refer to my previous post and start playing Settlers!

Here come the pictures! 

The following day, I was up early and took the bus to St. Clair beach with Gioia, Matt, Sherry, Jane, Andrea, Sarah, and Maddie. We climbed up some beautiful cliffs, and as they headed back to the beach, I found a spot in a little nook on the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean, blocked from the wind.

Though cloudy in the morning, the sun came out later, and it proved to be another gorgeous day. I was content to stay in my nook all day, writing in my new journal (via Anna), reading the first book in the Game of Thrones series (via Boca), lounging in my Crazy Creek, eating nectaries from the Uni fruit stand and thai sweet chili veggie crisps with basil pesto hummus, and getting a splash of ocean mist every so often. Jealous yet?

Eventually, I decided to pack it up and explore the beach a bit more. There was some really cool seaweed, some nice flowers, and the remains of an old dock.

As you can see, it was a pretty fantastic beach. I decided to talk home because it was so nice out. Walking everywhere barefoot is a thing around here, so I made the walk without shoes. I stopped at a small fish and chips joint where I got some cheap, greasy, delicious food. The walk turned out to be longer than I thought, so it took about two hours. I just googlemaps'ed it, and apparently it is just over 7.5 km(~4.5 miles).

I then played a game of Settlers with Gioia, Nicole, and Matt, and Matt became 1-0 in his career. Beginner's luck, but congrats to Matt.

For dinner, we had a bbq at our flat. Our neighboring flat and our flat have now agreed to be the same flat for social events, meals, etc. The flats are fully furnished, complete with a grill, a big clothes line, and a mini igloo/dog house type thing that I discovered is actually a pizza oven! We also have a huge grassy backyard with some benches and enough area to play a competitive game of football (soccer) or rugby. You won't hear me complaining.

Jess and I also welcomed our newest flatmate, Matt from Tennessee, to the flat. Two more flatmates to arrive soon.

The next morning, Sherry, Matt, and I walked to the Reservoir. It was about a 30 minute hike to a really nice lake. We sat on a bench and chilled for a while and played with some ducks.

We took a longer way home through the forest and I got home just in time for rugby practice. There are a bunch of different teams/clubs/leagues around here, but this practice was with the Otago Uni team. It was the second practice of the preseason, and since orientation didn't start for a few days, most of the team wasn't there yet. There were about 15 or so guys, mostly Kiwis but a few Americans, including my friends Stu and Madison. It turns out all of the New Zealand/All Black rugby player stereotype was pretty accurate. They're all a lot bigger, stronger, and faster than I am. We had a pretty intense practice, switching between sprinting conditioning and playing touch rugby. I kept up okay in the touch and in the early stages of conditioning, but near the end it was clear that I had been doing a lot more driving (Texas, home, New York, home) than running in the last month or two. Needless to say, it was probably the best game of touch I'd ever played (Jake, you might not even get picked first with these guys!), and I had a blast. They had a bbq after practice with hot dogs, gatorade, apples, and granola bars, and I think it's a pretty common post-practice thing. The guys are all really nice, and one of the guys in charge showed us Americans the clubhouse. It's a great room with a monster projector TV, a bar, and a bunch of tables. It's where the team watches big international matches, has socials with their opponents, and hangs out before going to the Highlanders games across the street. I can't wait to be apart of that.

Oh, also, apparently most of the A side players weren't on campus yet. Can't wait to see what the B side, heck, the C side looks like! Also, just a heads up (no pun intended) to all those worried about my long list of rugby injuries, I'm only going to be training (practicing) while I'm here, no contact for me. It was tough to tell the coach that I couldn't start at Flyhalf for the A side. This team sends more guys to the All Blacks than any other school, just to give you another idea of how good they are.

Our third flatmate, Kylie, arrived today as well! I was so tired after practice that I pretty much fell asleep on the spot. But not before I was able to Skype Rizzo from Cameroon and tell her Happy Valentine's Day!

Friday morning I was up early to register for papers (classes). It's a pretty lame system they run here. You have to get a signature for each of your classes, which means standing in long lines. I was lucky to finish in two and half hours. Let's just say I get pretty good at Super Jewel Quest, the coolest cell phone game ever.

I then met up with Tyler to go check out our potential new toy. The visit was a success, and we made plans for the following day to purchase it. That afternoon, I hung out in Dunedin with a bunch of people and made enjoyed another potluck dinner at Sherry's. We played charades for a while until we made our way to a nearby party. Eventually (~2am), some flatmates and I began to made the hike to Signal Hill. It's a pretty long hike, so we turned around and chilled at Logan Hill park, a fantastic view.

Oh, man. That was a long post. I'll stop now and continue later. Saturday was a big day; my favorite day in NZ yet. Stay tuned.