chasing rainbows

View from the summit!







Today we went for at 13k hike across Hunan Mountain Range.The summit was at about 860 meters and it was an amazing view! We had a 7 am start, and finished around 4 pm. Afterwards, exhausted, we decided to rest our tired feet with a quick swim! The beach were we live is incredibly rocky, but the one at the end of the hike felt like bath water and had silky smooth sand... well, after you made it past the 20 ft of barnacle covered rocks (which I cut my foot on, not much of a surprise there though). When we got back there was a gorgeous rain bow arching over campus with the sun setting on the opposite side!!! It was a an incrible day! we identified tons of pant species, and observed multiple changed in forest composition, and heard the call of an endangered bird!



like our safety get up?

Erikka, steph, elise and I decided to go on a nice bike ride after classes, but we are required to wear reflective vests and helmets. It was sweet! Also the bikes are fixed gear bikes, so the little bit of off-roading we did didn't go so well...

Jet lag

my back yard


Erikka, me, and Steph, Day 1



this is where I sleep



The 13 hour flight was actually quite enjoyable! For dinner I had some Quiche, salad, and a blueberry pastry. During dinner, we had the most turbulence I've ever experienced! EVER! I had one hand on my cup of soda and one hand on the can of soda. The violent shaking almost knocked my tray of food right off, but with a quick move, I swapped so that I had one drink on either side of my tray, squeezing tight in order to saved my dinner! Then I watched little Miss Sun Shine, and fell asleep. I was awoken around 4am New Zealand time to a decent air plane breakfast. I made it successfully through customs and met the Eco-Quest staff!


From the moment we got off the plane we never stopped! After arriving in Auckland, we drove an hour an a half to Eco-Quest and along the way stopped at a beautiful turn off to take a break and stretch. Erikka, Steph and I were chased by angry Oyster Catchers! They are all black with a long red beak with red eyes and are only the size of a seagull but are quite intimidating!!

Once we got to Eco-Quest they feed us amazing food! there was cereal, toast, eggs, and fruit! Then we got our room assignments, and unpacked. I am living in a 2 person hut/cabin with the ocean right in my back yard, its beautiful!!! Then we had a long and slightly grueling orientation and the best vegetarian chili I've ever had for lunch. Next, we all filled up the vans to explore the rest of the area! There is a beautiful place to hike/run right down the road. To close the day we enjoyed some delicious hokey pokey ice cream, which is apparently New Zealander's favorite! its super sweet made with honey!

Today feels like 3 days crammed into one, but it's amazing and I'm enjoying every second!

let the New Zealand Adventure Begin!

After a great week snowboarding in colorado, soaking in natural hot springs, and absolutely falling love with colorado, I sadly made my departure early in the morning and made the 3 hour flight to San Francisco! I watched as the mountains changed from snow covered ridges to green sloping hills. After arriving at the airport, I had a hard time finding my friends. we tried to find each other, not realizing we were at different terminals. After going up and down the escalator, maybe 5 times we eventually we met up and got to the hotel, bodies aching from dragging our luggage around. From there we took my first cab ever into down down! were the driver stopped at green lights and told us to visit the macy's which apparently had 7 floors ( I guess it's a big deal?) o and he told us there was a cheese factory on top haha which was actually a cheese cake factory, I was disappointed I really like cheese.

upon arriving there we ate at Lori's Diner were I had the most spectacular veggie burger ever and a divine strawberry milk shake! then we wandered around the city following the tracks of a trolly car looking like complete tourists whipping out our map every other minute. I also saw the most beautiful man ever. while passing him on his phone my friends and I stared awkwardly and tried to decipher if he was a mannequin or a real person? He didn't more a mussel! in the end he was real. so we ventured on, exhausted from trudging up the steep hills of San Francisco, we took a train back to the air port where a smelly man eating a donut stick tried to get me to buy shoes, then we caught the free shuttle back, enjoyed a quick hot tub and promptly passes out from a great first day of the trip.