Reflections upon middle-earth.

So, this is it. I'm now back in the States and the people and places of New Zealand are 18 hours in the future and a 24hour plane ride away. I know it is cliche, but the experience really was once in a lifetime.


In order of time spent: Mountain biking, traveling, climbing, studying, sleeping, yoga-ing, eating


Important Kiwi slang and phrases:

• Ay- (used at the end of a sentence, that isn't a question, to promote a response. i.e. "It's really hot outside, ay!" or "I'm really keen, ay!")
• Cheers- thank you, goodbye
• Ta- thank you
• Mate- friend, buddy
• Sweetas- awesome, cool (can be used with other adjectives to add emphasis, i.e. coldas, shortas)
• Pike- bail out
• keen- to be eager to
• Arvo- afternoon
• boot- trunk of car
• bugger- "damn"
• bush- forest
• bogans- white trash
• boy-racer- guys that drive around in tuner cars looking for girls, frequently seen with "for sale" signs on their cars with their cell phone number so girls can text them as they drive by
• Chips- french fries
• dairy- convinience store
• fuckwit- idiot
• flash- fancy, expensive
• good on ya, mate- congratulations
• heaps- a lot, "tons"
• to have a ___ (sleep, feed, etc) - to take a nap, to eat, etc
• jandal- flip flops (japanese sandals)
• Jersey- sweater, long sleeved
• Knackered- tired, exhaused
• amping- excited
• on the piss- drinking
• pissed- drunk
• pissing down - raining heavily
• rattle your dags - hurry up
• scull - to chug (a beer)
• tea- dinner
• tramping - hiking
• togs - swim suits
• ute- pickup truck
• wops- out in the country, in the middle of nowhere

Things I will miss the most!

• Friday night dinner and climbing
• Pizza making with the flat
• The "chute" at Bethunes
• Night riding down Pineapple
  
• Carnage on Signal
• Bouldering on the beach
• Penguins
• Real fruit ice cream in Cromwell
• Green pumpkins
• all the mud that is Dunedin winter riding
• "sweet as," "keen," "cheers," "ta," "bugger," and other Kiwi-isms
• wedges and sour cream
  

Things I won't miss as much...

• Marmite
• Drunk scarfies
• dirty/messy/trashy flats
• houses with no insulation
• sharing a small kitchen with 5/6 people
• crowded libraries
• slow slow slow internet
• no internal assessment in classes
• salty peanut butter
• the price of cheese/toiletries
• driving/walking on the left
  

Trails/Areas biked:

• Bethunes Gully, Dunedin
• Signal Hill, Dunedin
• Nichols Creek, Dunedin
• Hamish's Track, Dunedin
• Swampy, Dunedin
• Telcom Track, Dunedin
• Pineapple Track, Dunedin
• Government Track, Dunedin
• Naseby Forest, Naseby (2 days)
• Rock Garden, Alexandra
• Poo Track, Alexandra
• Wynyard Tracks, Queenstown
• 7-Mile Trails, Queenstown
• Sticky Forest area, Wanaka (2 days, favorite: Venus)

Places Climbed

• Long Beach, Dunedin
• Castle Hill
• Elephant Rocks
• Room14 Bouldering Gym

Friends!

• Flatmates: Natalie, Becky, Martin, Ollie (and wife Linda)
• Neighbors: Erin, Garrison, Courtney, Leah
• Bikers: Chris (and family! including mom Heather, dad Robin, and sisters Rosie and Paula), Andy "Vinny", Glen, Derek, Sheryl, Alec, John, Warren, Renee, Lukas
• Climbers: Nic, Paul, Nathan, Eric, Nick, Regan and many others I never officially met :)

Places Visited

• Dunedin
• Omaru
• Christchurch
• Picton
• Nelson
• Rotorua
• Takaka
• Golden Bay
• The Abel Tasman
• Farewell Spit
• Murchison
• West Coast
• Fox Glacier
• Wanaka
• Queenstown
• Alexandra
• Naseby
• Cromwell (best ice cream)

Favorite Food

• Circadian Rhythm Vegan Cafe
• Hell's Pizza
• Velvet Burger

Can't wait to go back :)