Things here just keep getting better and better!
Almost three weeks ago, I decided that I would commit to the sport of kitesurfing. 1830 NZD later, I have myself a 10m kite and a harness. While expensive, I know that I’ll get good use out of it – while I’m here, at camp and in the future. My first time out with it was just a perfect day. Consistent wind at about 17 knots, a slight overcast, and some really great people made it really easy for me to embrace my pricy purchase. I’ll be sure to keep you all updated with photos once I’ve got some!
This past week Lenny and I have been very busy. Last Saturday, we woke up to catch a train to Taupo for a late Seder with Isaac – a student from North Carolina whose parents are in NZ for a work exchange. The start of the trip had Lenny and I quite worried as we couldn’t find Isaac before the train left. We hoped that he had jumped onto another car, but we both thought that he had slept in (Lenny and I were just hoping for the best). The train left at 7:25 am, and at 9:30 we got a phone call from Isaac. He forgot to set his alarm and thus had missed the train. All was not lost at he had booked a flight to Taupo that had him arriving in Taupo nearly 2 hours before us – 45 minute flight, but a 6 hour train ride. Isaac met us at the train station, and was very upset to see that he missed out on our train car which had happened to be filled with many gorgeous blond women on some type of organized tour. Lenny and I would have gladly continued on with them if Isaac hadn’t managed to make it to Taupo.
Isaac’s family was incredibly nice. In typical Jewish motherly fashion, the brisket and matzah ball soup was ready and waiting upon our arrival. After spending the last 2 months eating mediocre cafeteria food, home cooking was a wonderful treat. We had a lovely Seder, played numerous games of pool on an enormous pool table, and called it an early night.
The next morning Isaac, his father, Lenny and I woke early to hike the Tongariro Crossing. We packed a box of matzah, macaroons, some apples, lots of water and were on our way. It was nearly an hour drive to reach the beginning of the trail, but the weather was absolutely stunning! Even Isaac’s dad, who had done the crossing 4 times, claimed that it was the most gorgeous day he had seen for the 7 hour hike.
The whole area had been used as a filming site for Lord of the Rings – Mt. Doom and Mordor are in a few of my pictures. Words just really can’t describe the sights, it was just incredible. Our day just got even better from there. I fully realized how small the world is on that hike. My first realization was a couple of Israelis we met on our way up. Lenny and I overheard Hebrew and got to chatting with them. Over the course of the day, we met 9 Israelis some of which came over to congratulate us for bringing matzah on the hike! We met some Canadians from Toronto and Ottawa, some Americans from NC near by where Isaac was from. Additionally, we bumped into all those attractive women from our train car. Isaac, Lenny and I walked behind them for a while and tried to guess where they were from. While we all guessed countries in Scandinavia, Lenny was spot on with Denmark. The girls were quite impressed. But my greatest realization of our small world came out of something that Lenny noticed. He pointed out a girl in front of us who was wearing a shirt that said ‘rebuilding New Orleans in 2008’. He knew about my Habitat for Humanity adventure of last year, and asked me if I had worked with her. I asked her when she happened to be volunteering there. She mentioned that it was over her reading week last year, which was the same time that I was there. When talking about camp hope (the place we all stayed while volunteering) she even remembered singing me happy birthday; along with the other 1200 people who joined in at the dinning hall. I couldn’t believe that all this happened in just a few hours of hiking on the other side of our small world.
Isaac had arranged to drive us to Taranaki the next day for Uni Games, as he was competing in basketball while Lenny and I were playing volleyball. The uni games are an annual sporting event which pits all of the NZ (and some Australian) universities against one another in 22 competitions. The overall winner of the competition gets to keep the uni games shield – which was in Victoria University of Wellington’s possession. While the events can be rather competitive, there is just as high an emphasis on the nightlife. The majority of the Vic team was being housed on a Marae – a traditional Maori community center. After receiving a traditional Maori welcome, we set up 105 mattresses on the floor of the main hall. There was just barely enough room for everyone. The food on the Marae was excellent, especially considering they were cooking for nearly 120 people. On the walls, there were pictures of all sorts of individuals who were from the surrounding communities. PGA golfer, Ben Campbell was up there, and his aunt was one of the head chefs. It was an incredible to experience authentic Maori culture.
Our volleyball team had never played together before our first match but we were mainly there to have fun. Our setter was a 50 year old PHD student from Texas named Keith. He made most of us look young with his constant hustle. (As a side note – Keith also kept up with Lenny and I for our nights in town. Incredibly, he came to all the bars with us. Everyone just loved the guy!) We had two Samoans, Shalom and Morgan, who just had a blast at everything. These big guys were obsessed with national anthems and could sing the national song for 13 different countries (it was 11, but we taught them Canada’s and America’s). Peter and Marco were incredible players. Peter was one of the top beach players in his age group in NZ, and Marco was the setter for the under 19 national team – though he just wanted to swing power instead of set for this tourney. Then there was Lenny and I, two Canucks who hadn’t played much volleyball in the last 4 years. Overall our team progressed with every game and we managed to win a silver medal over two days of competition.
The following day was the beach competition. After a heavy night of drinking, I can’t say Lenny and I were the most fearsome competitors – but then again, everyone was in the same boat. Vic had three teams in the competition and we finished 1st, 2nd, and 10th – not too tough to figure out where Lenny and I finished. But Lenny’s motto of ‘refuse to lose’ applies as there were 12 teams in the beach tourney. While we didn’t play to our potential (there are a few different rules for beach volleyball which had us giving away many easy points), the weather was gorgeous and we really couldn’t complain.
That night was the closing ceremonies for uni games. Though we were exhausted, Lenny, Keith and I ate dinner at Burger King and finished off the rest of our rum from the night before. We all admitted that drinking at a BK was serious low point, but we laughed it off. The ceremonies were hilarious. Everyone was thoroughly intoxicated, and the shenanigans were both incredible and embarrassing at the same time. It was great to socialize with the rest of the teams from our competition and many people were very nice to us Canadians. In the end, Vic took home the shield for the second year in a row, a feat that no school has done before. Overall, it was just an amazing experience.
With another 3 hour night of sleeping under my belt – it was the 3rd in a row – I made it back to Wellington today just in time to play a soccer match. We ended up winning 5-1 and I am now beyond exhausted. I’m gearing up for my early morning ferry trip to the south island tomorrow with Lenny, Liss and her boyfriend who’s visiting from the States. We’re planning to hit up Fox Glacier, Queenstown and Milford Sound. I’m sure it will provide me with many more stories for when I get back.
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