Spring Break! Tramping in Abel Tasman National Park

We have just returned from our spring break trip, and it was an incredible experience! A group of eight of us went tramping in the beautiful Abel Tasman national park on the northern coast of the South Island. (The park is named after the Dutch explorer who was the first European to discover New Zealand). We rented two cars and drove about 5 hours to the city of Nelson, which is near Abel Tasman. We stayed in a hostel in the city on Saturday and Sunday. Easter Sunday morning we went to a beautiful Anglican cathedral in Nelson. The service was very different, but i loved it! It seemed to me to be a perfect mix of Catholicism and the Protestant church services that I am accustomed to. On Monday morning we took a shuttle to Abel Tasman and began our hiking trip. We hiked 4-5 hours each day, which seemed like a lot more because we were carrying our packs. When we would got to camp we would set up our tents and cook some dinner. I slept in Department of Conservation huts two of the four nights, which was a welcome break from trying to sleep on the ground. We had great weather! It only rained one night, and it was sunny everyday. The track we hiked followed the coast the entire 30 mile distance, and we saw amazing views all day everyday. We weren't able to shower for 5 days, but it was fun to rough it like that for awhile. When we finally finished the hike on Friday afternoon, our feet aching from carrying the extra weight all week, we rode a bus back to Nelson. We stayed in a really nice hostel Friday and Saturday night called Paradiso. It had a hot tub, outdoor pool (although it was too cold to swim), sauna, pool table, and volleyball court. Unfortunately our experience was tainted from the get-go. Someone broke into our (the guys') room and the girls' room through an open window within the first few hours of being there. Caleb had his camera, ipod, and knife stolen. Colette had her entire wallet stolen, and Katie's credit card was stolen. Although that was a bad experience, our trip as a whole was an awesome time of enjoying God's beautiful creation.

Christchurch Homestay Week

This past week was our opportunity to live with a kiwi family in Christchurch. I stayed with another student from CCSP named Caleb at the home of an older couple. Their names were Joan and Allan and they had lived in New Zealand their entire lives. They have three daughters, 2 of whom are married and are living in California. Caleb and I had an awesome time with Joan and Allan! They cooked us delicious meals and more desserts than we knew what to do with. They also took us shopping and showed us around the city.

On Saturday night Joan and Allan's daughter, Catherine, took Caleb and I to a party at a really cool location. One of her friends had built a gigantic "man cave" that had an entire wall made of plywood painted white and a projector screen shining on it. The back of the cave had stadium seating with theater-style seats. We got to watch an intense game of rugby, but the best part was that when we finished our beer we could throw it as hard as we wanted at the screen and it would shatter!

Caleb and I went windsurfing on Sunday, which was a ton of fun! We got a lesson and 2 hours of windsurfing for a great price! We used wide, beginner boards so that it was easier for us to stay up. We were pretty good by the end of our session!

We are leaving on our spring break trip tomorrow morning already! We will be doing some hiking in a beautiful national park on the north coast of the south island, it should be a blast!