Tony

On August 10, Tony came to visit me. We spent 2 weeks exploring Dunedin and some of the south island together and had a fantastic time. The day after he arrived was my birthday. We toured the Cadbury Chocolate Factory where we tasted lots and lots of chocolate and saw them making giant Cadbury Eggs for next Easter. We also went to St. Clair beach for dinner and gaped at the giant waves.

The first weekend he was here we drove to the other side of the country and visited Milford Sound. This beautiful area was misnamed; it is actually a fjord, formed by glaciers thousands of years ago. We took a cruise and saw waterfalls, seals, penguins, and, my favorite, dolphins! It was a gorgeous day and was a beautiful location.


The rest of his visit was spent wandering around Dunedin, walking up the steepest street in the world, cooking his delicious food, and enjoying time together. When he first arrived, he said, "I love New Zealand!" It made me feel so much better about being here, like I had more of a purpose and wasn't just a dot in a foreign land. I had actually paved a path for myself and was able to show it off, comfortable now in the skin that seemed so strange almost 2 months ago.

My Day

Today has been nice. I only had one class this morning, Early Australian and New Zealand History. (It's my favorite!) After class, I headed to the library to print my Maori essay. On my way in, I ran into Dave, the Christian group leader. We had a little chat, and he called me Liz. I didn't correct him.

In the computer lab, I watched as 12 pages of my paper shot out of the printer, one copy to hand in and one for my records. I stapled them together and headed over the the Maori Studies building and handed in my first ever Otago University essay. It's worth about 15% of my grade, so I really hope I did well! It feels so good to be done.

This afternoon, I've thrown in 3 loads of laundry, eaten leftover dinner from 2 nights ago, Skyped with family, and worked on editing and referencing an essay for my God and Ethics class. I'd say I've been pretty productive.

Tunnel Beach

On Saturday, I took a trip with the Otago Christian Group to Tunnel Beach. The group was very diverse; I was the only American student, there were 2 Malaysians, a German, a Japanese, a Russian, and an Indian. We packed into a van and drove the 20 minutes to the beach along windy gravel roads. July 31st was the last day the trail to the beach was open. It meanders through sheep pastures and closed on August 1st for the lambing season.

We walked the easy descent to the first tunnel, naturally made by the waves crashing against the rocks. Further down the path was a man-made tunnel. It was built by a Mr. Cargill to give his daughters private access to a beach. How wonderful would it be to have your own beach?!