Kerri Malone, 2012 New Zealand Adventure Tourism student blogger, writes:
A snowy view from Kerri’s cabin in Christchurch
I was aware that a trip to New Zealand would require a personal surrender to cold weather, endless spouts of rain, and spurts of sunshine, but snow? The trip is now at a very near end, and we are surrounded by a camp park blanketed in white, as well as closed shops, restaurants, and city hot spots. Coming from Champaign, we all considered ourselves lucky that our own winter in the States failed to produce much snow, so finding our shoes and socks soaked in slush was not the most welcoming surprise in our arrival to Christchurch, but hey — we made a stellar snowman. The downfall of the gigantic, white flakes though meant the cancellation of our service project painting pianos and working for the Gap Filler project, a local initiative to fill the vacant lots in Christchurch that resulted from the 2010 & 2011 earthquakes with vibrant, arts driven community projects. Since the snow also means the weather is now quite cold, I cannot help developing a preference for the sunlight and striking iciness of the sea that we experienced in Kaikoura and Abel Tasman.
Kerri and her friend Emily out kayaking on the sea
During the time since my last post, I have been sea kayaking off the shores of Abel Tasman National Park, hiked, and swam in the ocean with dolphins gliding through the waves (my first full-body wetsuit experience!). In these towns the cold was exchanged for new experiences and the completion of activities for which I have an ongoing curiosity. In addition to the madness of those activities, as well as the town-hopping and academic components that are surely not ignored on the trip, our time spent at a bird sanctuary proved to be more relaxing than even the most superb spa.
Kerri and friends discovering the joy of waterfalls at the bird sanctuary
As a student that has consistently insisted on never refusing a challenging tramp since my arrival in New Zealand, I broke my rules at the bird sanctuary and embarked on the relaxing, more scenic route with about ten of my group mates. Greatest. Decision. All. Day. After a rather short twenty minute walk, we all reached a stream and forgot we were adults. Similar to children in a petting zoo, off we were in different directions, crossing the shallow stream, standing on rocks, dipping bare feet into the petite waterfall, all while taking numerous photographs. If we were to lay the product from our cameras across a table, we would have hundreds of evidence items exemplifying how excited we were to be in such a place, the relaxation of the day, and the enjoyment we had in spending those few hours of time together. Must the week end so soon?
