Predeparture: all my clothes for the 5 weeks strewn all over the floor
hiking up to see the area of Pureora (in Te Kuiti)
view of the area around Pureora
a dead hog we found at the end of our hike to the top. fascinating.
the disgusting ear of the dead hog
the 10 of us who were together for the project in Te Kuiti
the sleeping room of the firehouse we stayed at in Pureora (all 10 of us slept in here)
another hike up Mt. Pureora
Katy and I
a steam hauler we cleaned and painted with fish oil as a day's work
Angela (from the UK) and Kate (from Davis)
the spiral-ramp entrance to one of the caves in Waitomo (where we stayed for the 2nd week of the project)
the large stalagmite at the bottom
beautiful stalagtites
wavy stalagtite
a large river at the bottom of the cave
fossils in the cave
more stalagtites
downtown Queenstown
Melissa and Angela
the bungy shop where we signed up and paid for our bungy jumps the next day
the ride to the bungy jump site
the Nevis bungy platform (134 meters / 440 feet high) in a beautiful valley
view of the Nevis valley
the suspended cart that took us out to the platform
they're trying not to look nervous
Angela being strapped into the bungy cord
being hyped up after our bungy jumps
the lake in Queenstown
the lift up Queenstown to go luging
Lake Wanaka
Ship Creek/Beach
a happy picture on the beach
Kent and I
I'm definitely having fun!
Angela with her feet in the creek
Kent, Katy and I
Angela and I
Kent and Jon
the lovely walk near the beach
the Dinosaur Tree
Franz Josef. where most of the group went glacier hiking.
the hostel we stayed at in Franz Josef
Jon and I went on a walk in Franz Josef instead of going glacier hiking. I was sick and he had hurt his knee.
pancake rocks!
a bird of some sort
this is a reminder of how much we hated repacking and relocating every other day
Abel Tasman Nat'l Park where we went sea kayaking
the walk/hike to the beach where we were waiting for the half of the group that got to kayak out
a little water fall we found on the way to the beach
the kayaks
ferry ride from the south island to the north island... I got seasick
Alan, one of the guys from my project
Kent being silly
the colorful Maori meetinghouse in the Te Papa museum in Wellington
large stained-glass window in the Te Papa museum
large ball of silver fern suspended over a square in Wellington
a view of Wellington from atop a mountain
an interesting sign
our last night before going home/to Fiji
guy with the curly hair was one of our black water rafting guides; we called him “Brown Bear”. And we got to see Travis again since we were in Waitomo again.
I love those girls
Scott, one our Adventure Tour guides. he was a Kiwi who surfed.
the boys from my project. they were awesome. and they're just being stupid.
our first day in Pureora we went for a rainy walk
a box for deer jaw preservation at the Dept of Conservation
these are wilding pines; they are not native to New Zealand. we “weeded” these with hand saws our first 2 days of work.
ready for black water rafting!
zorbing was fun!
running from the cold right after zorbing
class V white water rafting!
finally made it back to land... and then it got sunny and warm again
while kayaking back it turned windy and rainy
being silly
almost ready to go!
Melissa and I posing for a wonderful picture
being even more silly
Tracy and I. we were in the same kayak.
Tracy and I
delicious Kiwi buffet in Queenstown
at the airport, dreading to say our good-byes (pre-Fiji)
another pre-seasick picture
lunch before we had our turn to kayak back
we had the opportunity to see a Maori show where they performed the Haka (warriors' dance)
the 3-hour bus ride from Waitomo to Auckland airport to embark on our Adventure Tour (in Queenstown)
having some fun in the cave
even more fun
Melissa and I
another day we picked up trash from one of the caves
on the right is Travis, one of the guys we worked with and he was staying at the caving hut with us
helmets to use while working in the caves
taking a break from planting native trees
near the end of the spiral ramp
Katy and I being destracted by the dogs instead of painting with fish oil :)
lunch break and calling mom
Jana (middle) was our other guide for the Adventure Tour. she came to Fiji with us also.
we were happy about something
it was also a nice, sunny day
I'm very good at making funny faces
end of a work day in one of the caves
