Changes in Latitudes

[19.4km (12 miles) to go - 7AM] [5km done through Mordor] [Trekking through snow across Red Crater] [The snow was slippery] [Mt. Ngauruhoe/Mt. Doom - breathtaking!] [At the summit of Mt. Tongariro with Mt. Ngauruhoe in the background] [The Emerald Lakes] [Love this one] [Lord of the Rings scene] [The final kilometers all downhill] [The trail was worn thin.]

Just got back from National Park (yes, that's the town's name), where I walked the famous Tongariro Crossing! It's 19.4km (12 miles) of trail through tussock, volcanic rock, loose gravel, mud, snow, and forest. It was perfectly picturesque! I took heaps of pictures; therefore, at least 12 pictures of the same mountain that just looked more cool each time. Pictures to come VERY soon! Now back to Auckland and wanting to go do another hike. Not a fan of the city.

Just spent five days at Whangarei Heads (about 2.5 hours north of Auckland) for a marine ecology focused field trip. Each day we had to do an experiment on the intertidal shore/beach and then that night we'd write a report and get it critiqued so that the final one we produce in May is better than if we hadn't had the sessions. We had some bad and good weather, but the great food made up for it in the end. Coming in from a 4 hours of working on the rocky intertidal with the wind and rain wasn't bad at all when we got to sit down with a bowl of freshly made soup and biscuit. With the free time I also managed to knit my first pair of mittens!! I'm very proud of them and can't wait to test them Thursday on the Tongariro Crossing --- supposed to have some snow down there. I'll be sure to post pictures of the hike. I hope I have a couple hours to spare to climb to the top of Mt. Doom (for all you Lord of the Rings fans out there). [Hat and mittens that I knitted this...

Check out this bird I saw today while collecting material for my experiment! It's called an Eastern Rosella. Pretty much a parakeet. [P.S. - photo not taken by myself. Had to search the name of the bird on Google and found the image]

The news there is so different...how do you see it? From where you are now...how do you see things coming home? The news that comes up on the TV over here is very different from that of in the US. It focuses A LOT on what is happening in New Zealand, even if it is a story such as a cat that was stealing people's "nickers" ---true story. The news probably only focuses about 15 minutes of the whole program on what is happening elsewhere around the globe. So, to me, Kiwi news seems very limited and the horizons aren't spread as much as I would like. But, I'm rather opinionated about this topic. Coming home, I now will appreciate the prices of food and clothes. I will miss being able to walk to wherever I need to be on a daily basis; however, I will be glad to be able to use a car again to get somewhere farther. I'll miss the variety of people I have met here, since Michigan isn't exactly home to a diverse assemblage (oooh look at them biology terms comin'...

Yeah, it's been a while since my last post, but that's because there really isn't much to report. Had yet another field trip. This time to an estuary to examine the variation in estuarine organisms with distance from the mouth of the Waipara Estuary. I have been very busy with assignments, projects, and getting things organized for post graduate studies. Hopefully something worth reading happens. It's nearly mid-semester break, so check back at the end of the month! Cheers!