Aotearoa

The South Pacific Ocean

"believe it or not"

So we went to a pub quiz last night at an Irish Pub called The Bog. We didn't really go there for the quiz but for the beer. Kilkenny's that is. And that beer was so good that we didn't manage to get out of there before the quiz started. And when the quizmaster assured us that it was NO problem that we weren't Kiwis and that the first price was more beer, well....

So we got ourselves a team name ("Roadies"), grabbed all the necessary paperwork (of course there was paperwork) and joined in the fun.
And then the quiz started:
Round after round after round we managed to be last or second to last but in the end we did it: last place!
In our defense we can say that we didn't recognize (or better know) the head coach of the All Blacks but then again we also didn't recognize Ariel Sheron. And I don't even want to talk about the movie stars (of course we missed Nicky Hilton - who the heck knew that Paris has a sister??)

In between the official rounds silly questions (How many people get hurt by tea pots per year?) could be answered for more free beer. I answered one of those and had to wear a silly Speight's foam hat to get the discount at the bar:
But it was soooooo worth it!

And the next day somewhere high up above Dunedin:

All the missing pieces..

...or at least some.

Weekend before last we went to a ski club owned ski field - Fox Peak. Where they use a rope tow with a "nutcracker". Not quite what I thought this would be but equally bad.

So this is a picture of the tow rope:
And this is a picture of the nutcracker:
The trick is to get the 2 of them together somehow without braking any fingers while closing the nutcracker around the rope and holding on to it while being pulled up the hill. It's a "mountain skill in itself" (http://www.chillout.co.nz/nutcracker.asp).

Actually quite simple on skis but I never managed to make it work for me on the snowboard. There was a Japanese girl who tried this for about 6 hours without ever getting more than 30 m up the slope. Impressive! I gave up after 2 hours and since the hip belt messed up my back I didn't go back for more the next day but put skins on my skies and walked up the hill. My group had taken 2 rope tows up in the morning and helped shovel out the third uppermost one which had its rope buried under 2 feet of snow. By the time I got there they were all done and you can see the trench they dug in the picture. And Fox Peak in the distance.
Snow conditions were crappy but the weekend was quite entertaining and interesting in other aspects. We stayed at the ski club lodge and had a marvelous dinner and apres-ski party on Saturday night.
And again my German/European beer knowledge was put to the test:
Why is this beer called "Bavarian" made in Holland? Needless to say I failed miserably. (Couldn't get away with the "Bavaria is in Holland" explanation.)

Ben showed up on Monday to sunny weather and blue skies. Of course that didn't last and by Tuesday morning it was pouring down rain. All day without interuption. So we drove out to the Otago Peninsula and went to the Marine Studies Center where they let us touch slimy, and silky and crusty things from the ocean. There were pigfish with very human-like facial features:
And sea horses (we arrived at feeding time and could watched them suck up phytoplankton):
At the end of the day we made it out to Sandfly Beach trying to catch the yellow-eyed penguins returning from their daily foraging. Didn't see any of those but watched a sea lion rolling in on the beach:
Next day was sunny and we went hiking up Mt. Cargill. And were treated to a spectacular view at the top.
This is a picture of a geologic formation called the Organ Pipes near the top:
Did some adventuring and took a trail down the other side only to realize that we had missed the last bus home from there and it was dark by now. So we hitchhiked! After about 20 cars passed us a minivan stopped and a mom with a sick child gave us a lift. Phew - that wouldn't have been much fun to walk back along the dark road for 12km and another 4km back to the house. So we have learned to check the bus schedule before leaving and to take a headlamp - always. (Ben even takes his to the coffee place in the morning now!)

We also went biking the other day and finally we saw one: a possum (it was dead I might have to add):

The islands were visited by another major snow storm (meaning rain here in Dunedin) and we are gearing up for some snowboarding. As soon as Ben gets better. Which reminds me: need to go to the store now and figure out what type of flu medicine they sell here.

Sick today

Frosty morning!

I fell asleep very early and unexpectedly last night and woke up with just a little dry cough. Otherwise, I felt OK and even got up and took a shower and made coffee before sunrise.

After some lounging around under two down comforters for two coffees and one Skype conversation's worth of time we decided to grab some more coffee and some breakfast type stuff in one of the local eateries before going hiking (or "tramping" as locals would call it) on a trail in the logging region northwest of town. As we approached our trailhead, the weather got greyer and wetter while things looked much better back in town. Before we got halfway there, we encountered a locked gate with a sign saying something about trespassers being sawn in half with a Stihl 36" bar skip-toothed chain saw. By this time, my dry cough had gotten worse and I was lacking energy so I wasn't heartbroken to turn around.

Having built up an immunity to NZ pathogens, Heike is off riding her bike somewhere. I'm under a couple of down comforters watching the vapor from my breath while I type this.

What am I doing here?

Blogging! Heike made the grand mistake of allowing me to post here while I'm in NZ. More posts forthcoming.

Another marvelous weekend in the mountains

This time we actually had sun - both days and all day long! Unbelievable! I had to buy sunscreen. A 1-ounce tube for $8 at the ski lodge - but it was so worth it!

After some initial start up problems with the car (the wheel sounded like it was about to fall off - but Ian decided we need to go skiing and can't worry about minor details like that) we ended up in 84 new cm of fluffy white stuff.
The backcountry skiing and hiking around the ridge line was so good that we used the lift only 3 times all day. The first run took us 2 hours including the hiking and the descent. We hiked up the ridge from the end of the lift and then traversed over to the backside to a run called Hammie's.
And I got the chance to see a real Voile splitboard in action - I guess it's time to get another student loan :)
The other exciting find of the day was a monoski which Wendy is modeling here for us:
We saw the owner of it later on trying to get down the hill on it. Not a pretty sight.

Scenery was awesome, so here are some shots: (this next one is a 360 panorama from the top of the ridge)

We spent the night at Donna's house. She had an amazing selection of crystal bowls that she got from the U.S. and gave us a lesson on how to make them vibrate. The bigger ones create a truly astonishing sound. It was just like being in church with big organ pipes. And I also felt as enlightened afterwards. And on top of that she told me my future. Now I am scared. I am not sure I like my future. I think I want another future. Or somebody else's future.

Back in Dunedin now - at least until next Friday. Practicing Maori songs tomorrow for a Hui next week. I am definitely better with the Maori pronunciation than with the NZ pronunciation. It's almost like German except "wh" is pronounced "f". I will have to memorize this song by tomorrow:

E tu kahikatea
He mau whakapai ururoa
Awhi mai awhi atu
Tatou tatou e

E tu e puriri
Laua takoto kia reri
Awhi mai awhi atu
Tatou tatou e
Awhi mai awhi atu
Tatou tatou e

Piece of cake!

Not even a whole week now and Ben will be here. Really looking forward to seeing him and doing some traveling around the island.