The Wild River Wranglers
I am on my mid-semester break from uni now. My first week was work and a four-day field trip to Kawhia for my Hydrology & Fluvial Geomorphology class. The first day was pouring rain, and what I thought was a good substitute for a rain jacket (my winter coat), turned out to be the opposite and I was soaked from head to toe the first day. When we got to our cabins I took a hot shower before we went to dinner. We all had to pay $80 for three nights of meals, so I was determined to get my money's worth and eat as much as I could.
Each morning we were up, fed breakfast, and out in the field by 8AM to begin our full day of river research. My group had the second hardest reach of the catchment, but it wasn't that difficult at all. We ended up getting dropped off too far down so we didn't get up the river as far as we were supposed to. There was no trail along the river so we were constantly crossing the river and fighting our way through bush, cow/sheep faeces, and swamps.
We finished up our field work both days around 5PM and after dinner we had to give presentations which lasted until 11:30. It was an exhausting trip, but definitely an experience. I was fairly useless in my group since most of them were geography majors and knew how to do certain calculations that are not necessary for biology. But it all ended up ok. No complaints.
Now I'm back in Auckland, working for the rest of break to make as much money as I can before exam stress settles in. Life in Auckland is good.
[The river we studied. Examined the type of river and how it has and will evolve over time.]
[Trying to stay dry while crossing the river. That lasted all of two river crossings before we agreed it was way faster to just walk through the water.]
Each morning we were up, fed breakfast, and out in the field by 8AM to begin our full day of river research. My group had the second hardest reach of the catchment, but it wasn't that difficult at all. We ended up getting dropped off too far down so we didn't get up the river as far as we were supposed to. There was no trail along the river so we were constantly crossing the river and fighting our way through bush, cow/sheep faeces, and swamps.
We finished up our field work both days around 5PM and after dinner we had to give presentations which lasted until 11:30. It was an exhausting trip, but definitely an experience. I was fairly useless in my group since most of them were geography majors and knew how to do certain calculations that are not necessary for biology. But it all ended up ok. No complaints.
Now I'm back in Auckland, working for the rest of break to make as much money as I can before exam stress settles in. Life in Auckland is good.
[The river we studied. Examined the type of river and how it has and will evolve over time.]
[Trying to stay dry while crossing the river. That lasted all of two river crossings before we agreed it was way faster to just walk through the water.]
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